Terra Rium
by Lunar.Lycanthrope
Summary: SEQUEL ALERT! The Storm Hawks have only just recovered from the events of "Heart of Darkness." The Sky Council has decided to send them out to assist the people of the mysterious Terra Rium. What secret does this troubled terra hold? OCs in later chapters
1. Prologue

This is a sequel, of sorts, to "Heart of Darkness." What do I mean by "of sorts?" Well lets just say I might be a little crazy and I'm now writing a series from a series. Fun times! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks. They are owned by the ggod people at Nerd Corp Entertainment, and the ever fun guy Asaph "Ace" Fipke.

There are going to be OCs, quite a few of them. I'll do my best to make them _interesting_.

* * *

Terra Rium...Prologue

While the Storm Hawks were resting on their Condor, save for their pilot who was staying firmly awake and gripping tightly to the steering controls, the Sky Council was busy preparing for a sudden call to assemble in the private meeting chamber. It was dark in the Sky Council's private meeting chamber, only a single light was illuminating the circular table at the center of the room. Sitting around the table were the aging members of the Sky Council. They had been called to another late night session by their most senior member to discuss a recent call for help.

"You all know why we are convening in private at the time of night, correct?" The senior member asked to all of his fellow councilmen.

"Yes." The councilmen across the table spoke up. "We're here to discuss _that_ terra."

The other council members simply nodded their heads as all attention turned back to the senior member. "They have put out a call for help. It would seem that since the fall of Cyclonis at Stryker's Folly..." He paused for a moment as he thought back to the events that had occurred only months ago. He continued after shaking off the memories and returning his attention back to the other council members. "Since that day, it would seem that Repton has been eager to expand his territory now that he no longer has Cyclonis to keep him in check. He has been attacking the terra on a regular basis."

"And why should we help them?" The councilman across the table spoke up again. "Why we even have dealings with them is beyond me." Some of the other council members nodded their heads at this statement, showing their agreement.

"It's because..." The senior councilman said firmly, getting everyone's attention once again. "It's because, they have rich deposits of some very rare crystals, remember? And let us not forget that they have helped us from time to time. They were even present at the Stryker's Folly and worked hard to keep many other squadrons alive and in the air."

A few of the other council members let out grumbles, reluctant to acknowledge this truth. The same councilman across the table from the senior member began to object again, firm in his own beliefs. "But still, they are nothing but..."

"A squadron dedicated to the survival of their home." The senior member interrupted, growing impatient with the other councilman's reluctance to help. "That fact alone makes them no different than any other squadron in the free Atmos, and we will lend them assistance. Am I clear?"

Nods and grumbles of consent came from the other members of the council, with a final reluctant nod of agreement from the councilman across the table from him.

"Good." The senior member smiled, relishing his victory over the opposing council members. "Now only on question remains. Who do we send?"

Silence fell on the council as they began to think over the possible candidates. One of the junior members spoke up from where he sat on the left side of the table. "Who did we usually send to deal with them?"

"Stryker." The senior member replied with a slight groan. "He and his Atmosian Guard were good to use as middlemen between us and them. But, as we are all aware, that is no longer an option."

"What about Harrier and the Rex Guardians?" One council members suggested with mild enthusiasm.

The senior member shook his head. "Harrier is a fine sky knight, but he would have trouble dealing with _these_ particular kind of people."

"The Ablsolute Zeros?" Another councilman suggested cautiously. "They are similar in their own way."

"True." The senior council thought for a second before shaking his head. "This may be a prolonged stay and the terra they we are talking about is a bit warm for Blizzarians. Not to mention, it's hard to say what effects _that_ would have on them."

Grumbles came from several council members as yet another squadron was recommended and then declined. Most of the members had a specific team in mind at this point, but were hesitant to say their name. The councilman across from the senior member decided speak up once again. "What about the Storm Hawks?"

Silence fell as everyone turned to see how the senior member would react to this suggestion. Many on the council were already thinking of the Storm Hawks but weren't sure if it was appropriate to recommended the still recovering team.

Before the senior member could reply, the councilman across from him continued to speak. "Their carrier is mostly up and running and the squadron, I'm sure, is eager to get back out into the sky. They are also young and I'm sure they can adapt to this special situation."

Nods and mutterings of consent could be seen and heard around the table by the other members of the council. The senior member thought for a moment before nodding his head himself. "Fine, we shall send the Storm Hawks." He said in a less than enthusiastic voice. "I had hoped to allow them more time to get used to being back in service again before we sent them on another dangerous mission. But, as you said, they are most likely the best team for this particular job."

The councilman across from the senior member let a smile cross his face, enjoying his own small victory. "So," He began with a grin on his face. "I shall have a messenger inform them of their mission first thing in the morning."

The senior member raised his hand to draw everyone's attention back to him, silencing the group at the same time. "Just tell them where they are going and that they are to help the people there. Nothing else."

Several members let out grumbles at this suggestion, only the member across the table spoke up again. "You mean that we shouldn't tell them exactly _who_ they are dealing with?"

The senior member nodded. "It's not really our place to say. For all we know, the Storm Hawks may not be accepted onto the terra. You know how picky their leader can be when it comes to letting people in. The only reason he let Stryker near the terra was because of Stryker threatening to expose their secrets." He grimaced when he thought about all the things he had turned a blind eye to when it came to Stryker. "We shall let them tell the Storm Hawks if they are willing to accept their help."

"Very well." The other councilman agreed. "First thing in the morning, we shall send the Storm Hawks to Terra Rium. Information shall be kept limited on everything but location and mission."

The other council members nodded their agreement and began to rise and leave the chamber. Most of them were eager to return to their homes and get some sleep. Only the senior member stayed behind in the chamber. His mind busy thinking over the situation at hand.

He let out a small sigh as he stood to leave. "I hope they can handle it." He said in a concerned voice as he left the chamber.

Morning was only a few hours away, and the Storm Hawks were unaware of the new dangers that awaited them, once again, on the horizon.

* * *

So here we go again into an unknown, and dangerous, situation. Where will things go from here? Well, while I'm typing that out, you can leave a review. I'll give a small hint on the secret though. I'm adapting a slightly famous story from years ago. You probably don't have a clue what it could be right now, but keep an eye out for the subtle hints. See you next chapter.


	2. Back in Action

And so things begin again. A new mission for the Storm Hawks with it's own mystery and dangers. Let's hope they come out better than their last mission.

* * *

Terra Rium...Back in Action

Aerrow opened his eyes in time to see the fresh morning sun blaring through his window. He knew that he was probably the only one awake right now, so the shower would be free. He quickly cleaned up and put on his usual uniform. He moved down the hallway to get a good look of the morning sky from the more open view available on the bridge. Stepping through the doors he caught view of Stork, apparently busy reassembling the steering controls.

"Morning Stork." Aerrow said cheerfully as he moved to look out the large windshield. Stork mumbled a reply that Aerrow couldn't quite make out. "What was that? Couldn't really hear ya."

"Have a good night?" Stork grumbled in a low voice.

"Ya." Aerrow replied, a confused expression on his face. "It was okay, I guess. Why?"

Stork grumbled something under his breath and turned away from Aerrow. An uncomfortable air seemed to have settled on the bridge, and Aerrow was unsure why. Thankfully, the rest of the team soon came onto the bridge just moments later, helping to relieve the tension in the air. Piper began to ask the usual questions of what everyone wanted for breakfast, making sure Junko could only choose three things instead of the usual dozen.

"Um, Piper?" Aerrow walked close to Piper, keeping his voice low. "Could you talk to Stork? He seems to be in an odd mood. Don't worry about breakfast, we can all make our own today."

Piper shot Aerrow a cautious look. "Okay, but try not make a mess. We just got the ship back together, let's try not mess it up already."

"_No problem_." The three boys said in unison before moving out of the bridge, towards the kitchen.

Piper sighed, she knew there would be a big mess to clean up before the morning was over. Then she turned to look at Stork, who was completely absorbed in checking every spring, wire, and bolt in the steering console. She knew this was a sign that something was bugging him.

"So." She began with as cheery a tone of voice that she could muster. "Anything bothering you?"

Stork gave a quick look from over his shoulder before returning his attention to the console.

"I'll take that as a yes." She said with a small laugh. Piper thought for a moment, then remembered Stork's odd behavior just last night. "Is something bothering you from yesterday?"

The image of Piper and Aerrow hugging came to the surface of Stork's mind, causing him to lose focus on where he was placing wires. A strong shock went up his arm as he crossed the wrong wires. Stork jumped back, cradling his arm and shouting various unintelligible curses.

Piper moved up behind Stork, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Stork, just talk to me, I'm sure I can help you if you just tell me what's bothering you."

"You wanna know what's bothering me!?" Stork yelled as he turned to look at Piper, shaking her hand off as he turned. "YOU! Your bothering me! Alright!" He quickly stormed off towards the door leading to the rest of the ship. "If anyone needs me I'll be in my room!" He yelled before moving out of sight through the door.

Piper was left standing in place, shock over the sudden burst of anger from Stork had left her rooted in place. Aerrow suddenly appeared in the door way that Stork had left through only moments before.

"I'm guessing things didn't go well." Aerrow said a look of concern. He moved into the bridge and moved towards Piper. "So what happened? I could hear stork yelling all the way in the kitchen, and then I passed him in the hallway. He had a really angry look on his face when he saw me."

"I don't know." Piper said, her voice a little shaky. "He's usually more than willing to vent on what ever is bothering him, but this time he was just so angry."

Aerrow looked around the room, he noticed various tools laying around and panels that seemed to have been recently worked on. "It looks like he was up all night in here." Aerrow thought for a moment. "Maybe if we..."

Aerrow was cut of by a sudden ringing through the ship.

Aerrow looked around confused. "Uh, what was that?"

The ringing came again, longer this time with a second ringing right after.

"It sounds like..." Piper gave Aerrow a confused expression. "...a doorbell?"

Aerrow was surprised, and it showed clearly on his face. "We have a doorbell?"

Aerrow and Piper quickly made their way to the side hatch that lead out to the docking port. Aerrow quickly opened the door, revealing a man wearing a postman's uniform.

"Um..." Aerrow said hesitantly. "...can I help you?"

"Aerrow of the Storm Hawks, correct?" The man asked. Aerrow gave a simple nod. The man reached into his bag and pulled out a large manila envelope, handing it to Aerrow. "Official package from the Sky Council." The man then thrust oust out a clipboard with a pen dangling from a strap. "Sign here please."

Aerrow handed the large envelope to Piper and signed the sheet on the clipboard, handing it back to the postman when he was done. The postman looked at the signature and then left, leaving Aerrow and Piper curious about what they had just recieved.

They moved into the kitchen to see Junko and Finn fighting over a plate of bacon. Piper surveyed the room and saw several spills and a stack of dishes in the sink. She let out a sigh as she gave the three boys a dirty look.

"What?" Finn said defensively. "I'll clean it up eventually."

Piper rolled her eyes and moved to stand beside Aerrow as he opened the envelope and slid the contents onto the table. Inside the envelope was a small stack of papers that were stapled together as well as a folded piece of paper that had the seal of the Sky Council on it. Aerrow picked up the folded paper first, carefully undoing the seal and folding the paper.

"It's a mission." He said simply as he read over the details that were written out on the paper. "They want us to go help out the settlement on Terra Rium. It seems they have been under attack by Repton."

"Rium?" Piper said, something familiar struck her when she heard the name. "I think I've heard of that terra before."

"Well I haven't." Finn said in a annoyed tone. "But they want us to go there when we just got finished putting The Condor back together and they want us to go and have new holes put through the side."

"C'mon Finn." Aerrow said in confident tone. "We've dealt with Repton plenty of times and come out all right. Besides, we've been out action for three months, and I'm itching to get back out there again."

Finn just rolled his eyes, giving Aerrow a dismissive wave of his hand. "Fine." He said in a annoyed voice. "Guess we could use something to do." He looked at the stack of papers on the table. "So what's with that?"

Aerrow looked at the bottom of the council document. "It says here that they have included some minor information on the terra."

Piper picked up the papers and began to skim through the pages, reading off the subjects as see read. "Geography...weather...and past relations with the council. Not really a whole lot of information on the people though from what I can tell."

"What does that section about their past relations with the council say?" Aerrow asked, his curiosity was piqued.

Piper read over the short summary, shaking her head. "Not much. Apparently they like to keep to themselves and the only real trade that goes on is from their..." She looked closer at the paper, her eyes going wide. "...crystal mining!" She quickly dropped the stack of paper on the table and ran from the kitchen. She reappeared moments later carrying a book, a look of excitement on her face. "I knew I had heard the name before." She opened the book to one of the many bookmarked pages and began to read over the page. "According to this, Terra Rium is one of the best places to find some of the most powerful weapons grade crystals in the known Atmos."

"Guess that explains why Repton has his eyes set on attacking the place." Aerrow said, he leaned in to look at the book. "Doesn't say much about the people here either."

"Just that they mostly keep to themselves and are distrustful of outsiders." Piper said, her voice still showing her excitement at being able to go to see where some of the most powerful crystals in Atmos were actually mined.

"So why are we going?" Finn asked in a still annoyed tone of voice. "Not that I wouldn't mind helping people, but that last mission we had from the council nearly killed us. Why can't they just send who ever they usually send."

Aerrow gave Finn a serious look. "They guy they usually sent out was Stryker, remember?"

"Oh, right." Finn said in a sightly embarrassed tone, he began to try his best to disappear under the table.

Aerrow thought for a moment. "The Condor only has a few mild repair left to finish, and we're more than ready to head there now. I'll go tell Stork get The Condor ready to set out for Terra Rium. The rest of you can finish up whatever else we need done before we leave the dock. Let's set out in an hour." Aerrow said confidently, ready for action.

Vacation time was over.

_**........**_

Out on the border of the known Atmos, a storm was raging. Clouds swelled and thunder roared with every flash of lightning. In the middle of this ever rampaging storm there was a small group of ships. The remains of what was once an empire, now forced to hide on the border of civilization, taking cover in storms. On the command deck of the largest ship, Ravess and Snipe were in the middle of one of their daily arguments.

"We should attack something already!" Snipe roared as he slammed his mace onto the command table. "I'm tired of hiding in these damn storms. We should be rampaging across the Atmos, bringing fear to the terras."

"And how long would that last my brother?" Ravess said in a stern voice, keeping her calm while she dealt with her brothers constant ranting. "How long before we are eventually run down and captured like common thieves?"

"It would be better than dealing with these damn storms." The deck rocked as a bolt of lightning shot near the ship, causing it to rock from the force of the concussion. "I'm going to go insane from the constant racket."

"You have to have a brain to go insane." Ravess said in an angry tone. "Yours went dead long ago from lack of use."

Snipe roared and brought his mace down again on the table, harder this time, causing it to crack in two. Ravess drew her bow, taking aim at Snipe. They both stared at each other, neither one flinching in their deathly stare.

"Uh, what's the point?" Ravess said as she loosened her grip on her bow, lowering it and placing it on the smashed in table. "We might as well just turn ourselves in. It would be better than rotting out here in these infernal storms."

Snipe let his mace fall to the ground. "I'm just...so..._Bored_."

A squawk came across the intercom, breaking the tense atmosphere of the room. "Commander Ravess, we have an incoming transmission for you."

Ravess moved to the wall and pressed the button on the intercom. "Who is it? Did some foolish squadron finally find us?"

"No, mam." The Talon said over the intercom. "He says his name is Dr' Heron."

Ravess rolled her eyes. "Tell him to that I have no interest in communicating with a deranged freak like him."

A moment passed, then the Talon came back on the intercom. "Mam, he says that he has something of interest to tell you."

"Fine." Ravess said in a disgusted tone. "Patch him through."

Another silent moment passed before the familiar, almost cheery, voice of came on the intercom. "Greetings my good friend Ravess. And I imagine your intelligence deficient brother is there as well?"

"What?" Snipe said in a confused voice. "What does that mean?"

"Quiet." Ravess said to her brother before turning back to the intercom. "What do you want?"

"What? No, how are things? Where have you been all this time? Or, how's the weather where you are?" Heron said in a fake hurt tone.

"Just get to business or I'm ending this annoying conversation." Ravess hissed into the intercom. She was quickly becoming annoyed with Heron, she had never liked him to begin with. He always made her feel like he was looking at her through a microscope, small and insignificant.

"Well I have recently come across some interesting information. I'm already working with some _interesting _people to help me with my current project. I thought you might want to help." Heron finished in a tone of voice that made Ravess feel that he was smiling his eerie smile on the other side of the transmission.

"And how would we benefit from helping you?" Ravess asked, unsure of what to make of Heron's offer.

"More than you know, my dear girl." Heron said in an almost laughing tone. "More than you know."

* * *

Next chapter will be out soon. Really feeling a rush when I'm writing this. Please review and I hope to see you all in the next chapter.


	3. Into the Sky

Sorry it took awhile to get this one out. I had some personal issues that kept me from being able to finish this. But, I think I'm okay now. Enjoy, and be sure to review.

* * *

Terra Rium...Into the Sky

Stork was in his room, his door firmly locked with all ten deadbolts, he made a quick mental note to add more later. He was thinking over the situation on the bridge with Piper, mentally kicking himself for having yelled at her. He was feeling a little on edge from not having slept yet and decided that might be the best course of action right now. He moved to climb into bed when there was a sudden knock at the door.

_Piper!_ He thought as he quickly moved to undo the locks on the door. He felt that this was a good chance to apologize. As the door opened though, only Aerrow could be seen standing at the entrance. "Oh...hey Aerrow." He said with a somber tone.

"We have a mission from the Sky Council." Aerrow said simply as he looked at Stork.

"Great." Stork replied with mock enthusiasm. "The Condor is only just up and running and their already sending us to get blasted out of the sky again."

"C'mon Stork." Aerrow said in a confident voice, hoping to motivate Stork. "People are in trouble and they need our help. Protecting people is why the Storm Hawks exist in the first place."

Stork rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Fine." Stork said, his voice still carrying an annoyed tone. "Give me some time to finish putting the everything back together on the bridge first. I kinda got interrupted earlier."

"Yeah, I meant to ask about that." Aerrow said, his voice reflecting his concern. "Is there a problem?"

Stork looked at Aerrow, narrowing his eyes as he stared daggers at Aerrow. Aerrow felt a tense air surround him as Stork Stared him down. Stork let out a sigh, moving his gaze to the floor.

"It's nothing." Stork said, his voice sounded tired. "Let's just get this mission going." He moved past Aerrow, letting his door room shut behind him as he moved towards the bridge.

Aerrow felt it best to leave Stork alone for a bit and began to move towards the hanger to make sure everything was strapped down for travel. "We leave in an hour!" He yelled towards Stork as he moved back towards the hanger entrance.

Stork sighed as he stepped onto the bridge. He looked around at the bridge, he didn't see anyone else. He moved to the steering console and began to finish reassembling the panel. His thoughts began to wander back to the events that had happened earlier, and last night. He simply shook them from his mind, focusing on the task at hand.

_**........**_

An hour later, the Storm Hawks were gathered on the bridge of The Condor, ready as they would ever be at this point. Stork pulled on several levers and flipped a number of switches, then a rumble echoed across the ship as the engines came online. The Storm Hawks felt a surge of excitement as their carrier once again began to move for the first time in months. A few metallic groans could be heard as they pulled away from the repair dock, some of the new joints and connectors getting their first shake down since being applied.

Stork smiled as The Condor finally pulled free of the dock, flying once more into the open sky. He gave the control console a gentle pat. "That a girl." He said with a small smile.

Piper was watching Stork from where she stood with the others at the support rail behind Stork. _It's good to him smile again. _She thought to herself, the memory of him yelling at her still fresh in her mind. It wasn't so much the yelling that had startled her, she had been through many shouting matches with Finn before. It was more the fact that it was Stork yelling at her that had shocked her more than anything. Stork had never really yelled at her before, not with so much anger behind his voice. If anything, it was Stork who was always the easiest for Piper to talk with about anything without feeling like she was talking to a wall. She sighed heavily and leaned forward against the railing, she felt to tense to think straight. She looked out the window and let her thoughts drift like the clouds that passed by the window as The Condor flew out into the open sky.

"So far, so good." Aerrow said confidently as he stepped forward next to Stork. "Set a course for Terra Rium."

"And our eventual doom." Stork said with his usual somber tone.

Everyone cracked a small smile at Stork's comment.

"It's not a real mission until Stork predicts our doom." Finn said with a laugh.

Aerrow grinned brightly. "So, how long do you think it will take us to get there?" He asked Stork.

"Hmmmm..." Stork thought a moment before answering. "I don't want to push the engines to hard right away, so I'll be keeping he speed at quarter power for now."

"C'mon Stork." Finn complained in his usual whiny tone. "Can't we go a little faster? At that speed it will take forever to get anywhere."

"Well I could push them to their breaking point and have us all go spiraling into the wastelands in a fiery ball of doom after our engines explode." Stork said sarcastically as he gave Finn a sideways glance from where he stood at the controls. "If that's what you want?"

"You know, I think we'll stick to your plan." Finn said with a nervous grin.

Stork let a devilish smirk cross his face as he stared out at the clouds. "Besides, I only plan to keep them like that for about an hour. After that I plan to kick up the output." Stork took a minute to go over te calculations in his head. "We should be in range of of the terra in about half a day. Of course, that's assuming we don't encounter some sort of disaster or some other random anomaly." A small twitch began in Stork's eye as he began to think over the various catastrophes that could occur.

"Well, good a time as any then." Aerrow said, turning o his heal to head out of the bridge. He paused to look over his shoulder at his crew. "Who's up for some aerial maneuvers?"

Finn grinned broadly then dashed past Aerrow, yelling over his shoulder as he ran. "Loser has to do dishes tonight!" He yelled before disappearing down the hallway.

"Your on!" Junko roared as he quickly moved to catch up. Aerrow keeping pace just ahead of him with Radaar nipping at his heals.

Piper looked at Stork. "Are you gonna be okay by yourself?" She asked with heavy concern in her voice.

"I've been fine on my own for awhile now." Stork responded coldly. "My ribs don't hurt anymore."

Piper gave Stork one last look before following the others to the hanger.

A few moments later he could see them all flying around the carrier on their rides, doing the usual_ training._ As always, it was a game of keep-away with Finn currently having the stone in his hands. He was passing it back and forth with Junko, keeping it just out of reach of Piper's hands. Finn let a pass go to high and Aerrow swooped in and snatched in mid arc. Finn moved in to try and get it back, but Aerrow gave a quick underhanded toss to Piper. Finn barely recovered in time to keep from crashing into The Condor's starboard pontoon. Aerrow and Piper exchanged a quick smile and a laugh before continuing the game.

Stork saw all this, the sight of Piper and Aerrow teaming up against Finn gave Stork a slight nauseous feeling._ She's free to to be with whomever she wants. _Stork thought as he looked over some of the gauges, letting out a small sigh. He looked at where Aerrow was currently trying to avoid having the crystal snatched from his hand by Junko. _Aerrow's strong, brave, a great leader and he's..._ Stork looked at his hand, letting go of the steering control's handle, staring at his green skin and long fingers. _...human. _

Stork looked out onto the horizon, the sight of the rolling clouds with the sun reflecting off them was always a beautiful sight. He gripped the controls of The Condor tighter, feeling the familiar texture of the handles. _This is all I need to be happy._ He thought to himself as he looked out into the ever expanding sky. A smile crossed his face, then quickly disappeared as caught sight of piper laughing and smiling as she flew. _All I need..._

_**........**_

It was later in the after noon now, training had wrapped up hours ago. Finn, of course, was the loser and was currently bartering with Junko in the kitchen to take over washing the dishes. Dinner was over and the rest of the crew was on the bridge, looking out into the dimming horizon. They were quickly coming to where the coordinates said that Terra Rium should be. But, as they looked out into the sky, they couldn't see much of anything. There was a heavy cloud cover that was rolling over everything and obstructing their view.

Aerrow was standing on the right side of the bridge, looking through the windshield at the clouded sky. "Anything on the sensors Stork?" Aerrow asked his already nervous pilot.

"I can't get a straight reading out of any of this." Stork said as he quickly looked back and forth from the scanning equipment to the horizon. "There must be some sort of interference."

Aerrow furrowed his brow and looked at where Piper stood at the communications console. "Can you raise anyone on the radio?"

Piper was bus tuning through all the available frequencies, holding a headset to her ear. She set the headset down and let out a deep sigh as she turned her head to look at Aerrow. "I'm not getting anything but static." She opened the small packet that they had received from the Sky Council, searching the pages for any useful information. "The report says that the weather around here is charged with a strong electromagnetic signature. That's probably what's affecting our instruments and communications."

"I don't like this." Aerrow said as he narrowed his gaze at the cloudy horizon. As he gazed out across the field of clouds he noticed something. It was small at first, a speck in the cloud cover. He almost missed it at first and quickly focused his attention back to where he had seen it. As he focused back on it, he noticed it seemed bigger than before. He narrowed his vision, trying his best to make it out, but was unable to make it out. "Piper, hand me the binoculars."

Piper picked up the binoculars and moved over to hand them to Aerrow. "Do you see something?" She asked worriedly as she handed him the binoculars.

"I'm not sure yet." He replied as he set the the device against his face. He looked out toward the area where he had seen the unknown object. As he focused the binoculars, he began to make out the shape of a person. He pulled the down the binoculars, a confused expression on his face.

"What is it?" Piper asked, her voice still carrying a worried tone.

"It looked like...a man." Aerrow said in a confused tone.

"On a skyride?" Piper asked, her worried tone changing to confusion.

"No." Aerrow said as he looked back through the binoculars. He caught sight of the man again, closer now than before. Aerrow shifted his gaze to the man's feet and noticed he was standing on some thing that looked like a flat board with two small jet turbines attached to the back. "He's riding some kind of...board." Aerrow said with even more confusion in his voice.

"Somebody want to check to see if Aerrow has some sort of head injury." Stork said in a concerned tone as he wrestled with the flight controls. "I would, but I'm currently trying to keep us flying against these strong air currents."

"I'm serious." Aerrow said as he continued to stare out through the binoculars. "He's flying on some kind of board and it looks like he's coming straight at us."

"Maybe he's here from the terra?" Piper said, her voice trying to sound optimistic.

"Maybe." Aerrow said, his senses still telling him to be cautious. He tried to make out details about the man, the distance made it hard to focus correctly. He pressed the zoom and instantly got a clearer picture of the man. He was wearing a helmet that covered his entire head, a shaded wind guard covering his face. He was wearing a black tactical vest with no sleeves. His arms were bare and seemed to be well toned, Aerrow could practically make out the individual muscle groups even at the far distance. He wore a low hanging tan leather belt that seemed to have something strapped behind the man, Aerrow couldn't make out exactly what it was. He wore jeans that looked like they had seen more than their fair share of wear and tear. His hands were wearing fingerless gloves and they were holding...a crossbow. "Uh oh."

As if on cue, the man raised the crossbow, pointing directly at Aerrow, and fired. Aerrow jumped back on sheer reflex just as a bolt struck the windshield in front of him. The sudden impact of the bolt on the windshield caused Piper and Stork jumped a little. The crossbow bolt just seemed to stick _on_ the glass, it didn't explode or even crack the windshield. In the distance, Aerrow could see that the man was close enough now that he didn't need the binoculars to see him.

Focusing his attention back to the crossbow bolt, which was still stuck to the front of their windshield. He noticed that there was some sort of stick substance on the front of it that was holding it to the glass. There was also a small blinking light on the shaft of the crossbow bolt that sent up red flags in Aerrow's mind. Aerrow's eyes went wide as he moved his gaze back to the quickly approaching man on the board, just in time to see the man wave and then bring his hand back to the crossbow and press a button on the side. Aerrow heard a high pitched beeping come from the Aerrow.

"Get down!" He yelled as he jumped back from the window.

The bolt exploded, but the window didn't break. It was, however, covered in cracks the made it resemble a spiderweb.

Piper appeared from behind a console that she had taken cover behind. "Is he trying to kill us?"

"I think the exploding arrow kind of answers that question!" Stork yelled as he pulled on the controls to try and bring the ship around. But, the controls weren't being responsive. "Ugh! These damn winds are making it impossible to turn.!" Stork yelled in disgust.

"This is a trap." Aerrow yelled as he looked at the approaching figure. Aerrow noticed that the man seemed to be leaning forward and was getting closer much faster than before. Aerrow looked at the weakened window then back to the quickly approaching figure. "Stork! Close the storm shutters!"

"We won't be able to see then!" Stork yelled as he continued to wrestle with the controls.

"And _he_ won't be able to get in!" Aerrow yelled back.

Stork, realizing what Aerrow meant, quickly reached over and pulled on one of the many levers on the control console. A metal sheet came down on the left side of the windshield, completely covering that portion of the windshield. It was followed by another metal plate covering the portion of windshield next to it.

Aerrow looked out the window, the man was coming across the front of the ship now. He looked at the storm shutters covering another portion of the windshield and realized the truth of the situation. _It's not fast enough. _He looked out the window again just in time to the man raise his arms across his head and he came barreling through the windshield.

The man came through and landed head first into the floor but quickly rolled over his shoulders to lessen the impact, the storm shutters finished closing behind him. The only light on the bridge now came from the overhead lights, the light of the sky now hidden behind the storm shutters. His board had been caught on the outside of the window, leaving him standing now on the bridge of The Condor. He looked at Aerrow from behind his shaded visor, his face completely hidden. He shifted his gaze from Aerrow to look at Stork, and then at Piper. He looked back at Aerrow and reached, with both hands, behind him and pulled out two knives. The blades were identical, only four inches long with a metal guard that came across the full length of the grips to fulls protect the knuckles of is hands. A bright green glow quickly covered the blades and the metal knuckle guard.

Aerrow knew, just from the way the man quickly took a fighting stance, that he was in for a hard fight.

* * *

Prepare for the fight scene!


	4. Warm Welcome

Terra Rium...Warm Welcome

Aerrow stared at the man, quickly pulling his own blades from his back. He activated the blue strikers, blue energy glowed brightly across the blades. He took a battle stance of his own as he squared off against the masked intruder.

"_OH NO YOU DON'T!_" Stork suddenly yelled from where he stood at the flight controls. Both Aerrow and the intruder turned their heads to look at a very agitated Stork. "We just got finished putting this ship back together and you..." He pointed an accusing finger at the intruder, an angry look in his twitching eye. "...you just blew a hole in my windshield. And now you want to fight on the bridge and probably tear up everything in sight with your wild slashing. Well let me tell you something!" Stork grabbed a lever on the console next to him. "I think we'll skip to the part where you get the hell off my ship!" With a strong tug, Stork brought the lever down.

A sudden noise caused the masked intruder to look to his left just in time to see a vent open and a metal fist on the end of a pole come shooting out. He quickly dodged to the left with a quick jump, barely landing at the end of the trap's range. Stork quickly pulled another lever, this time two fists shot out simultaneously. One from above and another from the intruder's right side. He dodged forward with a quick front flip, landing squarely on his feet in the middle of the bridge.

"Bye." Stork said with a devilish grin as he pulled another lever.

The floor beneath the intruder dropped for a second before catapulting him up through the now open roof of The Condor.

Aerrow turned to give Stork a surprised look. "Nice job." He said with a big grin while sheathing his blades behind his back.

The floor was slowly coming back down to reset itself, the ceiling closing once again. But, before the roof could fully close, the intruder appeared through the hole and landed on the deck of the bridge again. Aerrow spun around in time to see the intruder charge forward and ram into Aerrow. They both crashed into the support rail that was just in front of Stork.

Stork, who was stunned by the intruder's sudden reappearance, looked toward the opening in the ceiling. The top hatch wasn't fully closing because of a small grappling hook on the lip of the opening. Stork was to stunned by the sudden turn of events to move.

Aerrow was busy trying to free himself from the intruder who now had him in a choke hold while pressing him against a metal railing. He found himself looking at the the shaded visor of the man's helmet, he could feel the man's stare burning into him from the other side of the tinted shield. The edges of Aerrow's vision were starting to blur, the lack of oxygen was starting to make it hard to focus. He knew that he would soon pass out.

Stork, finally shaking off his shock, reached for another of his trap levers. But before he could, the man holding Aerrow by the throat noticed and switched his grip so that it was just the forearm of his left arm that was pressing into Aerrow's throat. With his now free hand, he reached into one of his vest pockets and threw out a device from inside. It struck Stork in his chest and he found that he couldn't move. He was still able to look around with his eyes, and could see the top of something sticking to his clothes and giving off the faint glow of a crystal.

A foot suddenly slammed into the side of the man's helmet, causing him to lose his grip on Aerrow as he was sent staggering a few feet to his right. As Aerrow regained his vision, he was able to see Piper standing next to him with a serious look on her face and taking a stance that reflected her determination. The intruder turned his head to look at the person who had blindsided him, drawing his trench knives from behind him as he took a defensive stance. However, once he saw Piper standing there with no weapons of her own, he sheathed his knives once again. He took a stance that matched the one that Piper was taking, mirroring her hand and foot placements.

Piper knew immediately that the intruder must be as well trained in Sky Fu as she was, but she couldn't let herself be shaken by this. She had to beat this man, or at least hold him off long enough for Aerrow to recover and help fight him. She let out a deep breath as she stared at the man, waiting for him to make a move. From the corner of her eye, she saw the movement of two familiar figures in the doorway of the bridge, but tried not to move her gaze, she needed to stay focused on the intruder in front of her. She kicked her left foot forward with a quick motion. It was more of a test than an attack, to see how he would react. He simply swatted the kick away with his palm, showing no real sign of a reaction. Piper knew by this that he was able to read the difference between an attack that was real and one that wasn't. She quickly moved forward and sent out a quick jab with her left fist to try and hit a pressure point on the man's right shoulder that would numb the whole arm. But, the man quickly countered by moving into Piper's advance and bringing up his knee to connect with Piper's midsection. She was already in motion and couldn't dodge the blow. Before she could recover from the hit, the man seemed to do a quick twirl from the momentum of his knee attack and was now behind Piper, ready to deliver a blow to her back.

He suddenly froze in place, cocking his head to the side. With a fast motion, he quickly leaned back and raised his arm. Snatching the shaft of a crossbow bolt in mid air. He turned to look in the direction that the bolt had come from. Standing in the doorway of the bridge was Finn with his crossbow raised, ready to fire another shot. Before he could, the intruder took the bolt in his hand and threw it back at Finn, hitting him and knocking him to the ground.

Junko came rushing into the bridge from behind Finn, barreling toward the masked assailant. The masked man simply moved out of Junko's path just a second before the raging wallop could tackle him, extending his foot for Junko to trip over. The unfortunate Junko lost his footing with to much momentum behind him and crashed forward onto the floor with a heavy _thud._

Radarr,who had been moving behind Junko, rushed onto his fallen friend's back and lept at the attacker's masked face. Radarr turned the man's helmet around on his head, blocking his view. The man quickly reached up and snatched Radarr off his head, tossing him against the far wall with a hard throw. He corrected his helmet and turned his attention back to Aerrow.

Aerrow was back on his feet now, blades drawn and at the ready. The intruder drew his trench knives again, holding the knives in a reverse grip. He moved quickly toward Aerrow, punching out with the guarded knuckles of his fist. Aerrow weaved to the side and brought his blades around to slash at the man. But, the man quickly guarded with the blades of his knives, catching both of Aerrow's blades on his own. They pushed against each other, sparks of blue and green erupted from the colliding crystal energy. Aerrow was breathing heavily from the force he was having to push out to keep from being pushed back by the masked intruder. He stared out with determined eyes at the covered face of the man in front of him.

"Not bad, those are good eyes to have." a gruff voice suddenly said from behind the tinted shield.

Aerrow was surprised by the sudden voice, losing his concentration. He was pushed back, his blades knocked up, leaving him wide open for the a quick kick to his stomach from his opponent. He bent over gasping for breath, the kick had knocked the air from his lungs.

"Your going to have to do better though." The gruff, and somewhat raspy, voice spoke again from under the helmet. He stared down at Aerrow, putting his blades back behind him. Aerrow could see Piper moving to strike the man again from behind. The man calmly raised his hand in Piper's direction, his palm was open and flat. "Stop, I'm done."

Piper, being the only one standing and able to talk, angrily began to yell at the man. "You can't just crash onto our ship, fight us, and then say your done!" She took a ready stance, glaring hard at the man."Who are you anyway!?"

The man let out an annoyed sigh from under his helmet. He reached up and removed his helmet, revealing his face underneath. His hair was black and cropped short, only an inch long all around, with white hair at his temples that reached to behind his ears. His face had a small scar on the edge of his jaw, just under his right ear. He had no facial hair, except for a small bit of stubble that was around the edges of his jaw. But it was his eyes that were the most striking feature about his face. They were a strange shade of yellow that seemed to pierce into you and read everything about you with only a glance. This, combined with his overall appearance, made him look intimidating to the young squadron.

"My name is Gubbio." His said with his rough and raspy voice. "Sky Knight of Terra Rium." He shifted his gaze around the bridge of The Condor, looking at each of the Storm Hawks. "And you are the sorriest excuse for reinforcements I have ever seen."

* * *

Not exactly a very welcoming guy. How will the Storm Hawks get along with someone that says hello by attacking your entire crew? You'll have to wait and see in the next chapter which will be out soon. Be sure to review while you wait. See ya next chapter!


	5. Rude GoodByes and Hellos

Terra Rium...Rude Good-Byes and Hellos

Gubbio was standing over Aerrow, glaring at him with a disapproving stare.

"We're a bit out of practice." Aerrow said as he stood up, still a little winded. "We only just recovered from a major battle."

"I know." Gubbio said, his voice carried an annoyed tone. "My squadron was there at Stryker's Folly." He let out a small laugh. "Last time I saw your ship, it was a pile of scrap on Terra Cyclonia's surface. I was disappointed to hear that you had been assigned to help, so I figured I would test you."

"You don't just attack people who come to help!" Aerrow yelled, he was feeling frustration from being talked down to by Gubbio. "We left dock early just to come here because we thought you wanted our help."

"I wanted real help! And what does the Sky Council send me?" Gubbio said with a small sarcastic laugh in his voice. "Three kids, a clumsy wallop, a _cold blood_..."He glared towards where Stork was still frozen in place, then shited his gaze to where Radarr was resting against the wall. "... and their pet." He chuckled a little as he looked at Radarr before returning his gaze to Aerrow. "Repton would eat you alive."

"We've kicked Repton's scaly butt plenty of times." Aerrow fired back at Gubbio.

"Hmph." Gubbio looked over Aerrow with his piercing glare. "And what makes you so much better than the other squadrons that have fallen to Repton in the past?"

"Maybe if you let us help instead of fighting us you can find out for yourself." Aerrow said confidently while keeping eye contact with Gubbio.

"Hrrrmmm." Gubbio thought for a moment as he stared at Aerrow. A smirk crossed his face that gave Aerrow chills. "Fine, I'll allow you on the terra, but I have conditions."

Aerrow felt the tension in the air lifting, but was still cautious of what Gubbio's conditions would be. "What are they?"

"Condition one," Gubbio said, counting off with his fingers. "you follow whatever orders I give you, and that goes for your whole squadron."

"Fine." Aerrow replied. "But you have at least be willing to hear our suggestions if I don't like the orders your giving."

"We'll play that one by ear." Gubbio said a slight grin. "Condition two, the _cold blood_ and your pet don't leave your carrier."

"First off, Radarr is not a pet, he's a member of my crew and a friend." Aerrow said defensively. "Second, what's with calling Stork a cold blood? What do you have against him?"

"He's cold blooded, simple as that." Gubbio said simply. "To most people on my terra, it doesn't make him any different from Repton and his goons that are attacking us."

Piper moved to where Stork was frozen in place, removing the device from his chest. "Stork's not a threat to anyone." She said angrily and tossed the device at Gubbio.

Gubbio caught the device and replaced it back into the pocket where he had stored it before. "It's more for his own protection."

"It's fine Piper." Stork said calmly. "I don't even want to think of what diseases are on their terra. I'll be fine on The Condor." Stork added with a sarcastic tone.

"He can keep your p..._friend_ company." Gubbio said, giving Radarr a sideways glance. "It's for his own good as well."

Piper was getting very annoyed with Gubbio's attitude. "Your kind of a jerk, you know that?"

Gubbio turned to face Piper, an annoyed look on his face. "Be honored I'm even letting you on my terra. And for the record, I'm not here to make friends."

Piper's eyes went wide. Not from Gubbio's overly insulting tone toward Piper. No, it was seeing the choker around his neck with a small crystal mounted in the center. Something about it grabbed Piper's attention. It was white in color and was giving off a small glow. She hadn't noticed it before because the helmet had been blocking her view of it. And this was the first time Gubbio had faced her completely since removing his helmet.

"What kind of crystal is that?" She asked, her attention now focused on the crystal. Her anger pushed aside by her curiousity.

"Mine." Gubbio said before turning his back on Piper again, facing Aerrow once again. "Now, if you don't mind, it's time for me to return to the terra." He moved back to the broken windshield and motioned for Stork to open the storm shutters that were still covering the hole. Stork pulled the lever that brought up the shutters, eager to get the overly aggressive sky knight off the ship. The shutters retracted and revealed the dimming sky, night was fast approaching.

"You can stay on board and guide us down." Aerrow said, he moved up behind Gubbio. "The cloud cover is to thick for us to see our way through, and our sensors don't seem in this weather."

"No." Gubbio said simply. He placed his helmet back on his head. "You will stay above the clouds until morning. We still have things to prepare on the terra. I'll return first thing in the morning to guide you through. You better be ready when I arrive." He jumped out through the broken section of the windshield, picking up his board from where it had landed when he crashed through before.

"Wait! I have more questions." Aerrow yelled toward Gubbio from the hole in the windshield.

Gubbio only glanced back at Aerrow before jumping off the side of the carrier. Aerrow saw him reappear, flying into the clouds on his jet powered board.

Piper walked up next to Aerrow, a frown on her face. "I don't like that guy."

"It's hard to like someone who attacks you the first time you meet them." Aerrow said plainly as he continued to stare out into the clouds that Gubbio had disappeared into. "But there's something else about him that seems off. I just can't put my finger on it."

"Maybe it's that he's a psycho?" Stork spoke up from where he stood gripping the flight controls. He looked a the broken window and let out an annoyed sigh. "He'd better replace that."

Aerrow moved over to where Junko was laying on the ground. The force of his fall had knocked him out cold. Aerrrow and Piper rolled him onto his back and woke him after a few gentle slaps on his cheeks.

"Ow." He said has he felt his head where he had connected with the floor. "Did we get him?"

"Nope." Finn groaned as he sat up from where he had been knocked down on the floor. "He kicked our butts faster than you go through a plate of hot dogs."

Aerrow took a moment to explain the situation to his now conscious friends.

"So now we're working with a guy that hates our guts." Finn summarized before adding a sarcastic after thought. "_Again._"

Aerrow sighed, already starting to feel sore from the fight. "Nothing left to do but turn in for the night." He said in a tired voice. "Maybe things will be better in the morning."

The rest of the crew nodded in agreement, moving towards the their sleeping quarters. Stork took a moment to make sure that everything was locked up, closing one storm shutter over the blown out section of the windshield. He shook his head again as he moved away from the controls, he felt even more tired than his friends from not sleeping the night before.

His thoughts wouldn't settle down though, going back to everything that had happened only moments before. _Whee does that guy get off just attacking us? And just how much trouble are we in for if a guy who beat all of us in minutes needs help? _Stork looked at the broken windshield. _Something tells me I'm going to have to patch quite a few more holes before the mission is done. I just hope that they're only on The Condor. _Stork immediately thought of Piper and the others. He could already feel his nerves starting to bug him again about this situation. He looked around the bridge, feeling the sudden urge to recalibrate his various traps.

"It's as good a time as any to make sure everything is still working right." Stork said to no one but himself. He grabbed his tools and began his work. It was going to a long night.

_**........**_

Piper was woken by loud shouting through the ship's intercom. She was still dazed from just having woken up from a deep sleep, and couldn't make out was being said. As she sat up, she felt a deep soreness in her gut from where she had been kneed the previous day. She looked out the window and saw a grey sky, the very beginnings of morning.

"I repeat!" She could clearly hear Stork yelling across the intercom now. "We have a large bogey incoming! Now if everyone could please wake up before we're blown out of the sky, that would be great."She heard a click that told her that Stork had turned off the intercom.

She hurried to at least slip on her boots before she ran out of her room, running toward the bridge. As she entered the bridge she saw Stork piloting the ship with Aerrow, already in full uniform, standing next to him, both were looking out out the windshield. As she stepped closer, she got a good view of what had caused Stork to yell across the intercom. In the distance, just above the cloud cover, She could see a large carrier moving toward them. It was a simple gray color, no colors or symbols that would indicate who it might belong to. She couldn't quite place what kind of carrier it was, it seemed to have had several modifications and pieces from other ships on it.

"What kind of ship is that?" She asked, moving to stand on the other side of Stork as she peered out the windshield.

"My guess would be that it was originally a freighter." Stork said simply as continued to stare at the approaching ship. "The way the engines are placed, as well as the main stabilizers, give it away." He looked over at Piper, noticing that she was still in her pajamas. He snapped his head back forward, trying his best not stare. "Uh...nice pjs."

Piper face turned a little red. She mentally kicked herself for not having taken the time to properly change. "Do you think it's Gubbio?" She said nervously, eager to change the subject back to the oncoming ship and not on her pjs.

"Probably." Aerrow said, leting out a small yawn. "He has a pretty strict definition on 'first thing in the morning.' The sun's not even over the horizon yet."

A light began to blink at the communications console. Piper moved to it and flipped a switch to activate the communications.

"This is Gubbio." The familiar gruff voice broke over the bridge speakers. "I hope your all awake over there."

Aerrow moved to the console and spoke into the microphone. "We're all awake and ready here."

"Good." Gubbio said simply. "Make ready for for our arrival. We're coming aboard."

"We?" Aerrow asked, unsure of what Gubbio was up to. "Why do you need to come aboard?"

"Some of my crew is anxious to meet you for some reason." Gubbio said in an annoyed voice. "And we might need to make some modifications to your ship. Apparently, according to one of my crew, your ship might be vulnerable to some of the energy that is in the atmosphere around the terra. It could be harmful to your systems."

"Fine." Aerrow said, still unsure if he could trust Gubbio. "We'll see you in a few minutes then."

"Make sure the rest of your crew is awake." Gubbio said simply. "I don't see them on your bridge."

Aerrow Piper, and Stork quickly turned their heads to stare at the incoming carrier.

"Yes, we can see you." Gubbio said over the intercom, they heard a small snickeriing of other voices on the intercom before Gubbio spoke again. "And by the way girl..."

"Piper." Piper interrupted in a firm tone.

"Piper." Gubbio corrected himself. "Nice pjs." He finished with a chuckle.

Piper's face turned bright red. "Jerk!" She yelled before retreating from the bridge to get back to her room and finish changing.

Stork and Aerrow exchanged an amused look before focusing back out at Gubbio's ship.

"Well." Aerrow said as he watch the carrier pull close to The Condor to link up. "This should be interesting."

"Hopefully they know how to say hello better than their leader." Stork said with a small smirk.

* * *

Time to meet the rest of Gubbio's crew. Should be interesting, or the beginnings of a ship wide brawl. Look forward to it, and make sure to review. See you next chapter.


	6. Gubbio and The Gang

Terra Rium...Gubbio and The Gang

The large grey freighter pulled alongside The Condor, adjusting it's speed and altitude to match. The freighter, being almost twice the size of The Condor, cast a huge shadow over the smaller vessel. A series of grappling arms came off the freighter and carefully gripped onto various points of The Condor, establishing a firm grip. A section on the side of the of the freighter opened and a gangway unfolded out onto The Condor's hanger deck.

The Storm Hawks were assembled in the hanger, watching as the freighter had attached itself onto their ship. Finn and Junko were present now and still fighting off the the urge to go back to sleep. Aerrow began to move out into the open air and motioned his team to follow. So far, no one had appeared from the freighter, leaving the Storm Hawks to wonder if they were about to be ambushed again by this unknown squadron. Then they saw a figure appear at the top of the gangway, the immediately recognized the figure of Gubbio.

"Good morning kids." He said said simply as he began to move down the gangway towards the Storm Hawks.

"Barely." Finn said under his breath to Junko, looking out at the grey sky.

"If there's light, then it's morning." Gubbio said while giving Finn an annoyed look.

Finn gave a nervous smile, trying to avoid eye contact with Gubbio.

"Nice to see you all awake." Gubbio said with a sarcastic tone, giving Juno and Finn a cold stare. "And properly dressed." He gave Piper a side look and a smirk.

Piper face began to turn a shade of red, a mix of embarrassment and anger was rising in her. But before she say anything back at Gubbio, Aerrow cut her off.

"So where's the rest of your crew?" Aerrow asked, trying to keep things civil.

"Their coming." Gubbio said as he gave Aerrow a cold stare. Suddenly, a loud noise _thud_ came from behind him, inside his ship. "Ah, here comes one of them now."

At first, the Storm Hawks didn't see anything. Then they saw the front of a large crate appear in the opening of the freighter, followed by another _thud. _Then, after a few more loud _thud_s, they saw the crate was being carried by a rather large man, both in size and height. They heard another _thud_ and realized that it was the man's footsteps making the noise, the weight of the crate was adding to the force of his steps. He slowly made his way down the gangway as he carried the large crate, the gangway bending slightly under his weight.

He was at least a head taller than Gubbio, and at least three times as wide. His skin color reminded Aerrow of a well glazed clay pot, a dark brown that almost had an odd shine to it. His hair was black and long, braided into a ponytail behind his head. He wore a vest similar to Gubbio's, but wore it open which revealed his well formed chest and ab muscles. He wore baggy black cargo pants over heavy combat boots, the fabric seemed strained on parts of his legs where it was no doubt stretching against his flexing muscles. He had a firm set jaw and brown eyes that gave him an intimidating look. He set the crate gently down on The Condor's deck, letting out a small sigh as he did and giving Gubbio a small nod.

"This is my good friend Brahm." Gubbio said with a slight smile. "He's my team's..."

"Let me guess." Finn interrupted, His voice carried a joking tone. "He's your strong man and heavy weapons specialist like our boy Junko." He finished, giving Junko a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Actually, he's our carrier pilot." Gubbio said simply as he shot Finn cold glare.

The Storm Hawks, as a group, shifted their gaze from Stork to Brahm, then to Stork again.

"I guess carrier pilots come in all shapes and sizes." Aerrow said in a surprised voice. He extended his hand to Brahm. "Nice to meet you."

Brahm took Aerrow's hand, the size difference caused Brahm's hand to completely cover Aerrow's, and gave it a firm shake. He gave Aerrow a simple nod.

"Brahm's not much of a talker." Gubbio said simply, then turned his head back to the top of the gangway. "Here comes our weapons specialist now."

Coming down the gangway was a girl, which naturally got Finn's attention. She was the same height as Piper with lightly tanned skin. Her hair was the most interesting part of her. It was an odd mixture of blond, brown and black. It was cut short and seemed to spike out in all directions. She had a good tone to her muscles and black colored eyes that she kept darting all around, as if always looking for something. She also wore a black tactical vest like Gubbio and Brahm with a bandoleer that had various crystal powered grenades loaded onto it. She wore baggy camouflage pants with a large belt that had various devices and a shortsword strapped on to it. Overall though, she seemed no older than the Storm Hawks. She finished coming down the gangway and stood next to Gubbio, eyeing the Storm Hawks with a gaze that was similar to Gubbio's. Her gaze stopped on Finn who was giving her his biggest smile he could muster.

Finn stepped forward and gave the girl a deep bow. "Good morning my dear." He said in his usual overly sweat and flirty tone. "I wasn't expecting to see a beauty like you all the way out here. So what's your name, sexy?"

"Step away from my sister!" A yell erupted from the top of the gangway, a figure sprinting down like a blur before stopping in front of Finn. He gave Finn a hard shove. "Back off weak meat!"

Gubbio reached out a hand and placed it on the young man's shoulder. "Calm down. You know your sister was probably about to sweep him off his feet." Finn smiled at this. "Right before she slammed him into the floor." Gubbio finished with a smile of his own.

The angry boy was almost a carbon copy of his sister. The only difference was that his was just an inch shorter and slightly less muscled than his sister. On his back he had a crossbow and a quiver strapped to his hip.

"These are the twins, Harley..." He pointed his hand to the girl who gave a small nod. "...and Quin, our sharp shooter." He shifted his hand to the boy who was still giving Finn an angry glare. "They maybe young, a couple years older than you, but I would trust hem with my life." Gubbio said with a small ring of pride in his voice.

Aerrow looked back up to the top of the gangway, expecting to see someone else. When no one appeared, he gazed back to Gubbio. "Is there anybody else?"

"Just Doc, but he hardly ever leaves the ship." Gubbio said, then a small grin spread across his face. "He doesn't move too fast." He said with a small laugh. The twins shared a laugh as well which came out with a strange high pitch to it. Brahm only smiled.

Aerrow felt like he was missing out on some sort of inside joke. "What's so funny?"

Gubbio let his smile fade as he looked at Aerrow. "If you ever meet him, you'll understand." Gubbio shifted his gaze back to his crew and simply nodded at them.

The twins and Brahm moved to the crate and opened the side, revealing various equipment that they began to roll out of the crate and into The Condor.

"What's all that?" Aerrow asked, curious about what was going on.

"Just some scanning equipment and tools to make sure that your ship is capable of flying through the cloud system around my terra." Gubbio said in a slightly bored tone. "We'll also modify your communications and sensors so that they will be able to work inside even the most dense parts of the clouds." He shifted his gaze back to his ship, a sudden worried expression on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Aerrow asked, noticing Gubbio's sudden change.

Gubbio paused a moment before answering. "No...nothing." He face seemed to relax as he looked back at Aerrow."It was nothing."

Aerrow looked at at his crew. "See if they need any help. And keep an eye out to make sure that they don't break something." He looked back to Gubbio as his team moved to follow the others back into The Condor. "Just wanna make sure they don't cross the wrong wires or anything. The Condor can be a bit _tempermental_ at times. No offense."

"None taken." Gubbio said with a small smirk. "Just looking at your rust bucket here, all I can think is _death trap_." He let out a small chuckle as he gave Aerrow a cold stare.

Aerrow was about to exchange words with Gubbio when Piper moved up next to him and pulled him away to talk, hopefully, out of earshot of Gubbio. "This is weird Aerrow."

"I know, he had this worried expression on his face suddenly. There might be something else on that ship." Aerrow said in a whisper. "Not to mention he's a bit of an ass."

"What?" Piper gave Aerrow a confused expression. "I was talking about the crystals."

It was Aerrow's turn to give Piper a confused expression. "What crystals?"

"Didn't you notice?" Piper gave Aerrow a serious look before rolling her eyes. "You remember how I pointed out the crystal around Gubbio's neck?" Aerrow nodded, curious to see where Piper was going with his. "Well, he still has it on today and the rest of his crew have one too. Brahm has one on a earing in his right ear and those those twins each have one on an armband on their right arms."

"So?" Aerrow said, giving Piper an uncertain look. "Their all wearing those tactical vests too. Maybe it's part of a uniform."

"Maybe." Piper agreed but her voice was still uncertain. "But something about them is just isn't sitting well with me."

"Well, I'm pretty sure the weird feeling has to do with the look Gubbio keeps giving us." Aerrow said as he looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, Gubbio was giving him and Piper a cold stare. They both stood up and walked back towards Gubbio.

"Done having your little meeting?" Gubbio said with a sneer. "And, for your information, my ship and what my crew chooses to wear is our business. And, if it weren't for the fact that my terra needed help, you wouldn't be allowed to enter. We like to keep our secrets." He gave Aerrow a cold stare, his piercing eyes seemed like they were trying to bore a hole through the young sky knight.

"Hey!" A yell suddenly came from inside the freighter. Gubbio broke his stare and looked back toward the opening with surprised look on his face. "Why didn't anybody wake me!?"

"Shit!" Gubbio yelled as he suddenly start to run up the gangway.

Aerrow and Piper exchanged a confused look as they stared at the opening of the freighter that Gubbio had just run through. They could hear muffled shouting coming from inside but couldn't quite make it out. Aerrow suddenly realized that the everyone else, his team and Gubbio's, were now gathered around him, staring up toward the open hatchway.

"Crap." Harley said in a soft voice.

"He woke up." Quin said in a tone that reflected his sisters.

Brahm just nodded.

The form of a young teen, at least a year younger than Aerrow, appeared in the hatch of the freighter. He had bright blue hair, with some white hair at the temples that strecthed to behind his ears. He had a bright smile and was running with full speed down the gangway, toward Aerrow. He had on a pair of tan cargo shorts and a pair of boots that almost seemed a half size to big for him. He wore a black black vest that seemed to be stitched together from various pieces of black cloth, with a white shirt underneath. He had a lean build and was a few inches shorter than Aerrow.

"Your Aerrow aren't you!?" He yelled in excitement as he approached Aerrow. He looked up at Aerrow with bright eyes, one was yellow while the other was green. He shifted his gaze gaze to the rest of the team. "Piper! Junko! Stork! And...um, Ken?"

"Finn." Finn corrected with a confused look on his face.

"Right! Finn!" He yelled with excitement. "I love hearing about how you always get you plane sliced in half and land on someone else's ride and hurt your crotch." He let out a small laugh as he finished the sentence.

"Uh..thanks?" Finn said, grimacing at the the memory, and just how many of the same memories he had.

"Where's Radarr? Can I pet him?" he looked back at Aerrow with an expecting look.

"_Rrrrriiiiick!_" A loud yell came from inside the freighter the made the young teen cringe. Gubbio appeared in the hatchway again, struggling to kick off some rope that was tangled around his feet.

"Ooooo, got him with the trip rope again." Harley said under her breath.

The Storm Hawks could only stare as Gubbio finished freeing himself from the rope, then make his way angrily down the gangway. His gaze never left the young boy.

"I meant it when I said I wanted you to stay on the ship." Gubbio said in a tone showed he was trying to hold back his anger.

"Yeah." The boy said, calmly staring back at Gubbio. "But, I'm here now. So there's no point in me going back."

Gubbio simply clinched his fists and as he stared at the boy. "_Fine_." He said as he let out a deep breath. He looked back at the Storm Hawks and tried his best to talk calmly while the vein on his head seemed to want to burst. "This is my son, Fenrick."

Storm Hawks shared a collective state of shock as they shifted their gaze back and forth from the obviously angry Gubbio to the smiling boy they now knew as Fenrick.

"Hi." He said cheerfully. "You can call me Rick."

* * *

So there's the crew. Fun times ahead. Will have another chapter up soon. Until then, please review. See ya next chapter.


	7. Testing

Terra Rium...Testing

The Storm Hawks still found themselves unsure of what to do next. They could only stare at the perpetually smiling boy while the man behind him continued to smolder. Thankfully, Gubbio soon broke the silence.

"There, you met them." He said simply to his son, holding a reserved tone of voice. "And since your up anyway, you can go help Doc in his lab... On the ship...Now!"

Rick gave Gubbio a an annoyed sigh as he rolled his eyes. He quickly ran back up the gangway, stopping at the top to turn around and face the Storm Hawks again. "I'll talk to you guys later!" He yelled excitedly, giving a quick wave good bye before disappearing into the freighter.

Aerrow looked at Gubbio, unsure of what to say but found his mouth was trying to form words.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather focus on finishing up here." Gubbio said quickly, eager to change the subject. "We can talk all we want _after _we finish working on your ship and are on the terra." Gubbio turned on his heel and moved to pick up a scanner, making himself look as busy as he could.

"Dude." Finn said, his voice reflecting his disbelief. He kept his voice low as he leaned in to talk with Aerrow. "Someone actually had a kid with that tight-ass jerk?"

"Yes, someone did." Quin said, stepping close to Finn and giving him a cold stare. "And if your smart, which I don't think you are, you'll watch what you say about it." Quin turned and moved to get back to work on The Condor.

Harley moved to follow her brother, stopping to turn and face the still bewildered Storm Hawks. "It really is best if you don't pry into Gubbio's personal life." She said with a small smile to Finn, giving the rest of the Storm Hawks a sympathetic gaze. "He's really not that bad of a guy when you get to know him. It's just..."

"Harley!" Quin yelled from where he was working, giving his sister a quick shake of his head.

"Well, back to work then." Harley said simply before moving to work alongside her brother.

This just left Brahm standing next to the Storm Hawks now. He looked at them, but said nothing. He shifted his gaze to Stork, gazing at him with questioning eyes.

"Um..." Stork began to speak, unsure of what to say to his fellow carrier pilot. "Do you want to check out our bridge?"

Brahm gave Stork a simple nod.

"Okay." Stork began to move into the ship, motioning for Brahm to follow. "This way."

The rest of the Storm Hawks watched as Brahm followed Stork into the ship. They repressed a laugh as they watched him have to duck and turn his body to fit through the doorways.

Quin approached Junko. "I need to see your engine room."

Junko gave Quin a friendly smile. "Sure thing." A sudden rumble erupted from Junko's stomach, reminding him that he hadn't had breakfast yet. "Do you mind if I swing into the kitchen first? I haven't really eaten yet."

"You can eat after we're done." Quin said firmly, narrowing his eyes at Junko. "The sooner I'm off your carrier, the better."

Junko's smile faded as he moved to lead Quin toward the engine room.

Harley quickly ran up, moving toward Finn. "I need to check your weapons systems."

"Actually, Junko is..." Aerrow began before Finn quickly cut him off.

"Busy helping her brother." Finn said to Aerrow with a bright smile. He quickly turned his attention to Harley, Sticking out his elbow for Harley to grab onto. "Right this way my dear. No one knows these systems better than me." Harley ignored his elbow, but followed him into The Condor.

Aerrow and Piper now found themselves staring at Gubbio, who was busy scanning the same section of bulkhead that he had been scanning for the last five minutes.

"So, where is Radarr?" Piper said, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Aerrow gave Piper a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Rick asked where Radarr was, and I didn't realize till then that he wasn't here." Piper was still staring at Gubbio, still trying to figure him out.

"Oh, he's still sleeping." Aerrow said casually as he shifted his gaze back to Gubbio. "It's pretty early, and I get the feeling that he didn't want to see Gubbio again anyway. So, I let him stay asleep."

"Oh, okay." Piper said, her focus still on Gubbio. She let out a sigh. _Screw it._ She thought to herself. "We know that your just trying to look busy!" She yelled at Gubbio, a small smirk on her lips. "How about just coming over here and answering some questions about your Repton problem."

Gubbio looked over his shoulder at Piper, then looked back at the bulkhead and sighed. He set the scanner down and moved toward Piper and Aerrow. "Fine."

"So when did you first have problems with Repton?" Aerrow asked, trying to resist the urge to ask about _other_ things.

"He first showed up a few years back. Caused all kinds of problems, some people died." Gubbio said simply.

"How did he even find your terra in the first place?" Piper questioned, looking around at the dense cloud cover. "It seems pretty well hidden."

"We're pretty sure he came across us by accident." Gubbio said, his voice seemed to drift as he began to remember the first encounters with Repton. "Only people who have been there before can really find it. Our sensors are finely tuned because we live here, but normal sensors go berserk inside the clouds."

"So how did you deal with him before?" Aerrow asked with curiosity.

"We were more relaxed back then, Repton quickly changed that." Gubbio said sternly, his voice seemed to take on a more serious tone now. "We barely managed to repel his constant attacks. It was only when Cyclonia asserted their control over him that the attacks stopped. I don't know why, but I only wish they had stopped sooner..." Gubbio's voice trailed off as he paused for a moment. His eyes looked to the deck as he seemed to remember something. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. His voice became hard edged again as he continued. "We took no more chances after that. We worked to fortify our terra in case anyone ever tried doing that again."

"And now that Cyclonia is gone, Repton comes back." Aerrow said thoughtfully. "But why come back so soon after Cyclonia had fallen."

"Our crystal mines are rich in some very powerful weapons grade crystals." Gubbio said firmly. "He would want to have as much firepower as he could before he tried to have a conquest of his own."

"Yeah, we figured that much already." Piper said, her thoughts still trying to put the pieces together. "But why your terra? There are other crystal mines that are closer to his terra, and more accessible. Do you have anything here that makes your terra more of a target?"

"No." Gubbio said quickly. He paused as he looked at Aerrow and Piper with cautious eyes. "At least, nothing that I can think of anyway."

Aerrow and Piper exchanged a look, but didn't say anything.

Behind Gubbio, everyone was emerging from The Condor. Finn was chatting with Harley while Quin was walking behind them giving Finn a strong scowl. Stork and Junko were moving ahead af Brahm who, once again, was struggling to get through The Condor's doorway.

Gubbio turned to face his approaching crew. "How does everything look?"

Harley stepped forward, moving away from a Finn with a small wave. "Their weapons should be fine. Though it wouldn't hurt them to install a few more cannons."

Quin moved to stand next to his sister, giving Finn a hard shoulder bump as he passed by. "Their engine is a little old but surprisingly powerful. I had to do some minor rewiring so that they wouldn't have to worry about the odd power spikes, but overall they should be okay."

Junko and Stork exchanged a smile after hearing the small bit of praise.

Gubbio looked at Brahm, a simple nod was all he got from the large man. "Guess we've done all we can then." He said simply. "Everyone back on the ship." He turned to look at Aerrow, giving him a hard gaze. "As soon as we pull away, keep as close as possible. If you lose sight of us, just cut power and we'll turn around. Don't try and find us, you'll only get your self's lost in the dense clouds." He moved to follow his crew up the gangway, pausing to look over his shoulder at Aerrow before he moved into the ship. "Try not to get lost, I might just leave you in there as a lesson if you do." With that as his final comment, he moved into the ship and closed the door behind him. The gangway began to retract as the various grappling arms did the same.

"Just has to be an ass all the time, huh?" Finn said as he watched the freighter begin to pull away from The Condor.

"Let's not give him a reason to be." Aerrow said as he began to move back into The Condor. "Let's get through this and show them just how good we are." He said with a confident voice.

The Storm Hawks moved to the bridge and began to follow Gubbio's freighter into the dense sea of couds. The cloud's started to roll over the windshield and obstruct their view.

"Hmmm." Stork looked into the dense cloud bank as he piloted The Condor as close as he felt safe enough to the freighter.

Piper moved close to Stork, noticing his nervous twitch that was already starting up in his eye. "It's okay Stork. It's just clouds."

"And behind these clouds is a terra full of people who won't like me just because of my blood-type. People who are under siege by one of the biggest villains in the skies of Atmos. And we're following the jerk who protects them, and said hello by blowing a hole in my windshield and kicking our butts." Stork said simply in a slightly nervous tone of voice.

"When you say it like that.." Piper began but Stork finished for her.

"..it sounds like we're all doomed?" Stork said with a small smirk as he gave Piper a sideways glance.

Piper just gave him a smile and looked out the window and into the dense sea of clouds, keeping an eye on the Gubbio's freighter. The clou'ds were so thick that they could really only make out a rough silhouetteof the ship just in front of it's tail fins. The air seemed to crackle with energy as The Condor moved through the depressing grey ocean.

**_........_**

"Are they behind us?" Gubbio asked Brahm from where he stood behind his pilot.

Brahm gave a simple nod, guiding the over-sized controls of the freighter through the clouds.

"So, how long until you tell them?" Harley asked. She was leaning against a bulkhead on the side of the dimly lit bridge.

"I'll tell them if it becomes an issue." Gubbio said simply, keeping his gaze forward and looking out the windshield.

"You know it will." Harely said with a small high pitched laugh.

"Maybe." Gubbio said, gruff voice carried an annoyed tone. "Or, maybe not. I don't want another Stryker." Gubbio spoke Stryker's name with disdain. "We don't need more people than necessary knowing our secrets. Using them as blackmail to do get us to do what they want." He shot Harley a hard look. "So we'll see how long we can keep things as they are. And try not to get to close the idiot."

"Who? Finn?" Harley said with a laugh. "He's a bit funny, sure. But I'm not planning to to follow _some _people's example." She said in a mocking tone while staring at Gubbio.

Gubbio turned to stare with both eyes at Harley, his gaze had turned serious, his yellow eyes almost seemed to pierce into Harley's. "Got a problem?"

"N-n-no, sir." Harely stuttered as she shrank away from Gubbio's gaze.

"Good." He said as he turned to look back out into the clouds.

A sudden beeping erupted from the nearby sensor console. Harley moved over to look at the screen. "We have company!" She yelled.

Gubbio a big toothy grin cross his face. "Good, now will have a chance to see what the pups are made of." He said as he moved to out of the bridge, making his way for the hanger.

Harley moved to catch up with her leader. "How do you think they'll do in the clouds?"

"They said they have experience dealing with Repton." Gubbio said as he moved quickly through the ship. "Some thick clouds shouldn't be a problem then."

Harley didn't say anything, just gave Gubbio an uncertain look.

"Don't worry." He said casually as they finally entered their hanger. "I'll let them get a good feeling of what their up against, then we'll see how confident they are." He grabed his helmet and jet board, moving to do hanger bay door. "Time to go to work!"

* * *

Looks like another fight is coming up. But, their still in the sea of clouds. How wil the Storm Hawks fair in this battle? Well, while you review this, the next chapter will be out soon. The more reviews I get, the faster the next chapter comes out. ;P Does this make me evil? Maybe, but only a little. See you next chapter.


	8. Tricks of the Trade

Terra Rium...Tricks of the Trade

The Storm Hawks stood on the bridge of The Condor, staring out the forward windshield. Or at least, they were trying to look out the windshield. The sea of clouds was to thick for them to make out anything but the vague shadow of Gubbio's carrier in front of them. Stork was nervously handling the controls as he kept his eyes darting across the cloudy view hoping not to see anything, but at the same time he was still expecting to see something. The sudden beeping of an incoming transmission caused him to nearly jump out of his skin from his wound up nerves.

Piper moved to answer the call and silence the beeping. "Hello?" She said simply into the microphone.

Piper and the rest of the Storm Hawks immediately recognized the voice of Quin coming from the radio's speaker. "You better get ready for a fight over there. We got company."

Piper looked over to the sensor screen, but couldn't make out anything. "We're not picking up anything on our sensors." She said quickly into the radio.

"We didn't have time to calibrate them perfectly." Quin was quickly becoming annoyed. "They're out there, and they know we're here."

"How are we supposed to fight something in these clouds?" Piper asked, already feeling her anxiety leak into her voice. "We can barely make out your hulking freighter in front of us."

"Not my problem." Quin replied with a sour tone. "Feel free to sit tight in your little carrier and get blasted while Gubbio and my sis do all the work."

Aerrow face took on a determined look as he moved to speak into the radio. "Why just the two of them?"

"Brahm has his hand's full just making sure that we don't crash and I'm handling the ship's guns." Quin replied quickly, his voice carried an annoyed tone. "Any other useless questions that you wanna ask?"

"We're on our way out." Aerrow replied simply before he turned off the radio. "I'm going out. Finn and Junko, I want you handling the guns. Be careful what your shooting at, in these clouds we want to make sure we're not shooting a friendly."

"So it's okay to shoot at Gubbio?" Finn asked with a grin.

Aerrow simply shot Finn a quick look, removing the grin from Finn's face. He turned his attention to the rest of his crew. "Piper, I want you to work with our sensors, see if you can get a lock on where the Raptors are then radio me on my skimmer. Stork, make sure we don't lose their sight of their freighter."

Stork already had no intention of losing sight of the only thing he could see anyway, but gave Aerrow a quick, slightly shaky, nod.

Aerrow turned to begin making his way for the hanger, determined to get into the fight as soon as possible.

Piper was quick to point out the flaw in Aerrow's plan. "Aerrow!" She she yelled as he reached the doorway. "You can't go out alone."

Aerrow gave a reassuring grin. "Don't worry." He said with as much confidence as he could muster. "We've beat the Raptors so many times before I could do it in my sleep. And, I won;t be alone, I'll have Radarr with me." And with that he moved through the doorway into the rest of the ship.

Piper and the rest of the Storm Hawks were left standing on the bridge, staring at the spot where Aerrow had been only moments before.

Piper was the first to break the silence. "Isn't anyone else going out there!?" She almost screamed, looking around at the rest of the people on the bridge.

"I would," Finn spoke up as he began to move across the bridge. "but me and Junko have to man the guns." He finished as he opened the port side gun port, manning the canon. Junko took up position opposite of him on the starboard canon.

"We can't just let him go out there without back up." Piper said in a increasingly concerned voice.

"He'll be fine, alright!?" Stork yelled from the flight controls. "He's Aerrow! Great, perfect, always comes back safely Aerrow!" Stork's voice was sounding more annoyed than praising of Aerrow. "Trying having some confidence in our sometimes idiotic leader. Now are you going to do anything about our sensors?"

Piper stopped and focused her mind for a second. She realized that Stork was right, as he often is. If she could get the sensors working, at least she could give Aerrow prompts as to where the Raptors were moving. She moved back across the bridge to the Sensor controls, opening the side panel. She quickly busied herself to try adjusting the frazzled sensors.

_**........**_

Aerrow moved quickly through the halls of The Condor to get to his room. He needed to wake up Radarr before he even thought of heading out. He reached his room and opened the door, surveying the room for his co-pilot. After looking over the room twice, he wasn't able to find a trace of Radarr. He found himself growing worried as where Radarr could be.

The sudden rocking of the ship shook him out of his thoughts and reminded him of the current situation. He didn't have time to look for his furried friend. He moved out of the room and made his way for the hanger. He entered the hanger already running at full speed, he quickly flipped the switch to open the hanger door and lept onto his sky ride. As soon as the doors opened far enough, he floored the engine and sped out into the open sky. He deployed his wings as soon as he had cleared the deck and immediately began to gain some altitude while staying in sight of The Condor.

"Anything on the sensors yet?" He spoke into his skyride's radio.

"I'm getting a faint trace of something off the starboard side." Piper's staicy voice spoke over the radio.

Aerrow looked out into the indicated direction, frowning at not really being able to make out anything in the dense clouds. He throttled up the engine and made his way out into the clouds. As he moved out more, he saw a quick movement of shadow followed by a small spark of light. he automatically put it together as signs of fighting, picking up the pace to move in closer. He saw a quick movement in the corner of his eye, but when he turned his head he didn't see anything. He had already lost his bearing and tunred around to head back for The Condor only to see nothing but clouds as he turned around. The Condor had already moved out of his view while he was trying to find the enemy, leaving him quite lost in the clouds.

"Dammit." He began to mentally kick himself as he moved out in the direction he thought The Condor had been moving in. He quickly reached for his radio. "Piper? Come in Piper." All that answered him was static, causing him to slap his radio out of frustration. _They didn't adjust our skyrides' radios, only The Condor's_.

A figure suddenly swooped down past him, startling Aerrow nearly out of his seat. A shadow began to rise up towards Aerrow from below him, eventually revealing the helmeted figure of Gubbio rising slowly on his jetboard.

"Lost?" Gubbio said in his usual snide tone.

"How do you move around in this?" Aerrow asked in a genuinely confused tone.

"Well as much as I would _just_ love explaining all the little tricks I've picked up in my years of fighting in these clouds." Gubbio began sarcastically. "You don't have time to listen, because you need to duck."

"What?" Aerrow said, more confused than before.

"Duck!" Gubbio yelled as he moved over to pull don Aerrow's head.

Just as Gubbio had finished pulling Aerrow head down, a familiar boomerang shaped blade came whizzing through the space that Aerrow's neck had been occupying only a second before.

"Whoa!" Aerrow said as he watched the blade swing back around to return along it's path. "Thanks."

"Keep your thanks." Gubbio said as he released his grip on Aerrow. "It time to show me how well you can fight Repton."

Aerrow could hear the faint rumpling of an engine as the familiar shape of Repton on his Bone Wing came out of a dense portion of the clouds, now fully visible to Aerrow.

"Well, well." Repton said in his hard raspy voice as he began to take a wide circle around Gubbio and Aerrow. "I must say I'm surprised to to you here Aerrow. Now I can take care of two problems in one move." He quickly threw out his blade again, aiming to hit both Gubbio and Aerrow.

Gubbio quickly unsheathed his trench knives and swiped at the blade, knocking it up. Repton flew forward to retrieve his blade, catching it before it could disappear into the clouds. He kept flying forward, planning to disappear into the clouds once more. Gubbio brought his board around, ready to give chase.

"Wait!" Aerrow yelled, causing Gubbio to pause and lose sight of Repton.

"What!?" Gubbio practically growled from behind his helmet.

"We need to make a plan." Aerrow said assertively.

"Here's a plan." Gubbio said with obvious annoyance. "You go back to your carrier and wait till I call for you."

"Maybe I would if I knew which way my carrier is." Aerrow motioned around, no sign of The Condor was in sight.

Gubbio didn't say anything, but Aerrow could practically feel him rolling his eyes behind his tinted visor. Gubbio reached into one of his vest pockets and pulled out a small communicator. "Quin."

"Yeah." Aerrow heard the slightly staticy response.

"Give me a Flasher. One of our little friends is lost." Gubbio said simply into the communicator before replacing it into his pocket.

Behind him, Aerrow could hear a sudden concussion in the air. He turned his head to see that part of the dim clouds was shining brightly.

"There you go." Gubbio said simply, turning to once again head off into the dense clouds.

"Wait." Aerrow said, once again stopping Gubbio in his tracks.

"What!?" Gubbio said with an angry tone.

"Do you have any of the Flashers on you?" Aerrow asked with a thoughtful tone.

"No." Gubbio said with annoyance. "Harley would though. that girl keeps just about anything that makes a boom on her at all times."

"Where is she now?" Aerrow asked.

Gubbio paused for a moment. It looked to Aerrow like he was just standing there, but at the same time it felt like Gubbio was feeling the air around him.

"Follow me." Gubbio said, a sense of urgency in his voice. "And don't fall behind."

Gubbio aimed his board down and began to speed into the clouds. Aerrow quickly brought his skyride around to follow Gubbio. He had already lost some distance to having to turn his ride around and Gubbio was still pulling away. Thankfully the trip only lasted half a minute. They entered into a slightly more open section of the clouds, revealing a pair of Bone Wings chasing after a heliscooter. Aerrow was quick to figure out that it was Harley, also wearing a black helmet similar to Gubbio's, on the heliscooter being chased by Hoerk and Spitz. Gubbio paused just after clearing the cloud cover, watching the chase in front of him.

Aerrow pulled alongside Gubbio, unsure of what to do next. "Aren't you going to help her?" He asked nervously.

Gubbio raised a hand, signaling Aerrow to wait.

Aerrow reluctantly obeyed as he watched Harley darting around on her heliscooter to avoid the blasts being sent out by her pursuers.

"She looks like she could use some help." Aerrow said as he looked Gubbio.

"Just wait a moment." Gubbio said, a small sound of amusement in his voice.

Aerrow felt confused for a moment by the upbeat tone of Gubbio's voice. He looked back to where Harley was being chased, not sure what to expect now.

The Raptors were closing in on Harley now, not far from just being able to grab her from her heliscooter. Suddenly, Harely stopped moving forward and just let the Raptors pass her. A slightly confused Hoerk and Spitz quickly moved to turn and come back around on Harley.

"No more playing around!" Hoerk yelled as he came about to got at Harley.

"Yeah." Harley said as she raised her hand, a small device in her grip. "I was getting bored anyway." She raised the cap of the deice off with her thumb. A small beeping could be heard in the air immediately afterward.

Both Hoerk and Spitz looked at the device in Harley's hand and then down at their flight consoles. Seeing right away that the beepng was coming from a pair of grenades that had been stabbed into their dashboards. The pair quickly jumped from their rides as Harley pressed the button. The two bone wings exploded into a cloud of debris as the two Raptors disappeared beneath the clouds, both of their parachutes open.

Gubbio and Aerrow moved over to Harley. "That was amazing. You let them get close just so you could jab those grenades into the rides."

"Yeah." Harley said in a less than enthusiastic tone. "But tricks like that only work once. I'll have to think of something new next time."

Aerrow quickly remembered his earlier thoughts. "Speaking of tricks." He said with a small grin. "I have one of my own that I need you to help me out with. Do you have any flashers?"

Harley simply nodded as she reached over and grabbed one from her bandoleer and handed it to Aerrow.

"So here's the plan..."

**_........_**

Repton was flying through the clouds, searching for his prey. He was always glad to be able to feel out heat, just like any other reptile. In these cold clouds people were easy to spot, he was only limited by the range that he could feel the heat. But at the moment he didn't even need that to know where his prey was.

"That's the most idiotic plan I have ever heard!" He could hear the familiar voice of Gubbio coming through the clouds. "It figures that only some idiot kid would come up with something so stupid!"

"If you just give it a chance, I'm telling you it will work!" He could hear Aerrow now.

Judging by how much clearer their voices were getting, he knew that he was getting close. He throttled down his engine, practically gliding now on the strong winds, being careful not to give away his position. he could feel the faint traces of heat being given off by three people. He knew who two of them were and figured the third must be the female he had sent Hoerk and Spitz after. He made a quick mental note to punish them later if they weren't already dead.

"Just calm down Gubbio." He heard the female speaking now. "It might work if you just give him a chance."

He could make out the faint shapes behind some clouds that the voices were coming from.

"No!" Gubbio began to yell again. "I'm the leader here, and I say that the boy get back on his ship and turns back home! I'm tired of dealing with him!"

Repton raised his blade, aiming his throw carefully to aim for the larger body heat signature, figuring it must be Gubbio. He quickly threw out his blade, watching it soar towards it's destination, cutting a path through the dense clouds. He heard the familiar sound of it striking something, but watched it get knocked back up again. He revved his engine and quickly made his way to retrieve his weapon. As he got closer to where his blade was flying upward, he could see the figures more clearly. Sure enough, it was exactly how he had predicted, Aerrow was staring Gubbio who now missing a chuck from his helmet.

"I'll be sure to throw it harder next time to cut threw that thick head of yours Gubbio!" Repton yelled as he snatched his weapon back into his grasp.

Gubbio stared up at him threw the missing section of his helmet. A single piercing yellow eye stared up at Repton through the crack.

"There won't be a next time Repton!" Gubbio yelled as he looked over and nodded to Harley.

Repton watched the female reach for a device and flip up the button cover on the top. He heard a beeping noise coming from his hand where he was gripping his blade. On the hilt of his weapon was a small device that Repton immediately knew what it was.

"Crap." He said simply before he was completely blinded by the Flasher. Unable to see anything, and completely disoriented by the force of the explosion, Repton was quickly losing control of his bone wing.

"Your mine now!" Gubbio roared as he charged up toward Repton on his jetboard. He Grabbed Repton off of his bone wing, quickly disarming him adn throwing his blade out into the open sky. Repton struggled against Gubbio's grip, but it was doing him no good. He was still to disoriented to put up a fight. Gubbio quickly brought several high-strength metal zip ties, using them to bind Repton at several key joints.

After he felt that he had Repton good and tied, he pulled out the small communicator from his vest. "Brahm, bring the ship around." He looked down at the bound Repton, Aerrow could see a small smile through the crack in his helmet. "We have some extra baggage." Gubbio gave Aerrow a quick look through his broken helmet, a faint trace of a smile still on his face. "Good plan, kid."

* * *

Repton is captured. Does this mean that the Storm Hawks job is done before they have even started? Of course not! This is only the beginning. I look forward to your reviews, as i always do. ;)


	9. The Beginning

Terra Rium...The Beginning

The Storm Hawks found themselves standing on the hanger deck, Gubbio's freighter was latched on again. They were still in the sea of clouds, hovering in a less dense portion. Both teams were taking a moment to discuss what to do with their new prisoner.

"There's nothing to discuss really." Gubbio said simply as he looked at Aerrow. His own team was standing around him, almost reflecting how the Storm Hawks were standing around Aerrow. Between the two teams was Repton, still bound and silent as he rested on the hanger deck. "Repton is captured, and without a leader, the rest of his group won't even be able to think of what to eat for breakfast. I'd say your job is pretty much done here." Gubbio let a small grin spread across his face. "So we'll take Repton and you can go home now."

Repton eyes went wide after hearing Gubbio. He looked at Aerrow with an odd pleading look. "You can't leave me with them Aerrow!" He said quickly with a sightly distressed tone. "Take me in! Arrest me! Just don't leave me with them!"

"Shut up!" Gubbio yelled, giving the bound Repton a quick kick in the side. "You have to answer for your crimes."

"And he will." Aerrow said calmly, trying to keep the situation from getting heated. "We'll take him back to Terra Atmosia, and he'll stand trial there."

"_Or_, you can just leave him with us like I just said. And if you have a problem with that..." Gubbio cracked knuckles and gave Aerrow a hard stare. "...we can pick up where we left off when we first met."

"_Okay,_ seriously?" Finn spoke up now, his patience was at it's limit. "Dude, you really have got to learn to lighten up. We're working together here, and if my I understand things right, you wouldn't have even captured Repton with out my main bud Aerrow coming up with a plan."

Gubbio grumbled as he shot Finn a angry look. "It's true, that was a good plan, even if it did get a little close to killing me." Gubbio said, remembering how he had barely managed to knock the blade up in time with the Flasher, ruining his helmet. "But, I've been waiting a long time to take Repton down." Gubbio said, trying to keep his anger in check. "I'm not going to just let him go now."

Aerrow and Gubbio didn't say anything now, they simply stared at each other. The tension in the air began to rise as neither sky knight shifted his gaze. A sudden bit of laughter broke their concentration as both men looked toward the source.

Repton let out another small chuckle as he looked up at his captors. "Look at you." He said in a mocking tone. "Fighting over what do about me like you've won something. Do you think this is over? Do you really think it ends with me?" Repton laughed harder now. "Do you really think I would want to come back to this damn terra by my own choice?"

Aerrow looked down at Repton, a cold feeling was already creeping up the back of his spine. "What are you trying to say?"

"What have I always been, Aerrow?" Repton said with a small laugh. "I'm a mercenary, plain and simple."

"So someone paid you to come here?" Aerrow asked, already fearing what this meant. "Who? Why?"

Repton looked at Gubbio, a broad smile on his lips. He shifted his gaze back to Aerrow. "It's not important. What is important though is that if I don't come back, he'll just send the _other _one."

"Your the only person who's actually been to our terra that could find it again." Gubbio said simply. "Even if they send someone else, they won't be able to find us."

"Go ahead and think that if you want." Repton continued to laugh as he lay bound on the deck. "But _it _will come anyway."

Aerrow looked at Gubbio. "I think that you may still need our help after all."

Gubbio bent down and grabbed Repton, pulling him to his feet. "Who sent you!?" He yelled.

Repton simply smiled but said nothing.

"Fine." Gubbio said giving Repton a cold glare and baring his teeth in a strong sneer. "If you don't wanna talk now, we'll talk later." He quickly pulled out a small injector from a vest pocket and jabbed it into Repton's neck.

Repton eyes rolled back as his knees gave out, collapsing onto the deck like a sack of potatoes.

"What did you do to him?" Aerrow asked while giving Gubbio a hard look.

"Just a sedative to keep him out until I get him back to my terra for interrogation." Gubbio looked at Aerrow, an odd calmness to his face. "You have two choices. You can go home now, free and clear of whatever trouble comes next. Or, you keep following me back to the terra."

"What?" Aerrow said in a surprised tone. "Your not going to throw out any insults."

Gubbio smiled a little before returning his face back to his usual serious look. "You've proven to be resourceful. It might be helpful in whatever fight is coming." Gubbio paused for moment before continuing, giving Aerrow another cold stare. "But don't go thinking that I like you, your just proving that your not entirely useless."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Aerrow said with a slight smile. "We'll keep following you down then."

"Yes!" A sudden yell came from on top of the gangway connecting the two ships. All eyes turned to see the familiar bright blue haired boy standing at the top of the gangway. Fenrick came running down the gangway at full speed, making a be-line for Aerrow. "It's been so long since anyone new came to the terra. The last guy was Stryker and he was about as nice as dad is when he first wakes up in the mornng."

Gubbio stared at Rick with his usual glare as he tried to keep his voice calm. "Rick, I told you I don't want you out here."

Rick shifted his gaze down to the unconscious Repton. "So that's Repton?" He said as he poked his foot at Repton's side.

"Yeah." Gubbio said simply as he continued to look at the young boy. "Now would you please go back on the ship till we're safely back on the terra?"

"Yeah, okay." Rick said as he stared at Repton. He shifted his gaze back up to Aerrow. "We have to hang out when we get back home. There's so much cool stuff I wanna hear about." He slowly made his way back to the gangway, constantly looking over his shoulder at where Repton lay on the deck.

Gubbio looked at Aerrow once Rick was back on the ship. "We better get going." He looked out into the clouds as if he was looking for something. He gave Aerrow a quick look again before turning to move up the gangway, the rest of the crew moving to follow. Brahm picked up Repton and hauled him onto his shoulder like a heavy sack, giving a small nod to Aerrow before following his leader up the gangway.

"Still don't like that guy." Finn said as the large freighter began to pull away from The Condor.

Aerrow's face took on a more serious expression as he watched the freighter move to pull head of The Condor. He quickly marched into the ship, his team following behind him.

"Everything okay, Aerrow?" Piper asked, picking up on his sudden change of mood.

"I'm not sure." He said in a somewhat distant voice as he moved quickly through The Condor, making his way to the bridge. "I think I saw something, but I'm not sure."

"Saw something?" Finn asked as he and the rest of the groups stepped onto the bridge. "Saw what? When?"

"When Gubbio flew up at Repton, for a split second, I saw something through the crack in his helmet." Aerrow said, his voice reflecting his uncertainty. "Something seemed weird about his face.

"Are you sure?" Junko spoke up now, worry in his own voice. "I mean, you were in range of that Flasher without any eye protection. Your vision could have been affected."

"Maybe." Aerow said, his thoughts were still uncertain. "But something about him has been bugging me this whole time. Especially when he stares at you with those eyes of his. It...it's...it's hard to describe."

"Then why, may I ask, are we following them to their home?" Stork asked anxiously as he moved to take the controls and bring the ship off auto-pilot. "The guy gave you a way out and you volunteered to keep going. Bringing the rest of us with you"

"It's a mystery Stork." Aerrow said with a slight grin. "We can't just leave with questions. And, like Junko said, it might have been nothing."

"Or it's just the beginning." Stork said simply as he felt his eye start to twitch.

Aerrow moved up next to Stork, giving him a confident pat on the shoulder. "Try not to worry so much Stork. We survived Cyclonis and her crazy schemes, I think we'll make it through this alright."

Stork didn't say anything, he just continued to pilot the carrier after the vague shadow of Gubbio's freighter through the dense clouds. Soon they arrive at their destination and see first hand whatever dangers that awaited them on the hidden terra.

_**........**_

Elsewhere.

A lone figure stood on the deck of of a small carrier. He was looking out at the world, thinking of all the possibilities that could arise if the plan was successful. In the distance, he could hear the faint rumblings of a small engine approaching. He turned to look in the direction of the incoming skyride, slicking his hair back from his shaded eyes. He could see three figures sitting on a single plane, already coming to understand the situation before they had even landed.

The skyride was being piloted by Leugy with Hoerk and Spitz gripping onto the sides. As soon as the bone wing had landed, the two extra passengers tumbled off, tired from having to grip the entire ride back.

"Da, I found them Dr. Heron." Luegy said simply. "They was gripping onto a rock, but I found them."

Heron ignored Luegy, focusing his attention on the two other Raptors that were collapsed on the deck. "Where's Repton?" He asked in an eerily calm voice.

"We don't know." Hoerk said from where he was laying on the deck. He quickly got up to his feet and tried his best to avoid eye contact. "We were seperated then taken down."

"It wathn't jutht Gubbio and hith crew." Spitz spoke up with his hard lisp, he was also trying to avoid eye contact. "When we fell, I'm thure I thaw Aerrow of the Thorm Hawkth."

"Hmmmm." Heron thought for a moment before looking over his shoulder into the open hanger. "It would seem that Repton has gotten himself captured, and the Storm Hawks are here too. Looks like it's time for you to go into action a bit sooner than expected. It's a good thing you have arrived so soon."

Two figures emerged from the shadows of the ship's hanger, Ravess and Snipe.

Snipe hefted his over-sized club onto his shoulder, a broad smile on his face. "I was bored anyway of all the waiting around in those constant storms."

"Not so fast, Heron." Ravess said, her mouth was still in frown, as it always was whenever she looked at Heron. "We don't know the way through those clouds."

Heron smiled that only served to send shivers down Ravess's spine. "You don't have to worry about that." Heron shifted his gaze to behind Ravess and Snipe. "Luckily, I happened to know someone who does."

A dark figure, one Ravess didn't remember seeing in the hanger before, suddenly began to step forward. An odd sound seemed to come out with every other step, matching with the stiff way the figure walked. Their features were completely hidden underneath a long flowing cape and hood. Only one feature was noticeable, a single red glowing eye that peered out from under the hood, giving a hard stare at Ravess.

"Who are you?" Ravess asked with a shaky voice, she was getting a cold sensation crawling up her spine from the way the person was staring at her.

"It's not important who they are Ravess." Heron said with an almost cheerful tone. "All that matters is that they have been to the terra before, and that they are willing to lead us there." Heron looked out into the air aroud his small ship, looking at the five Cyclonian cruisers that flew in formation behind his ship. His smile spread wider as he continued to stare out at the small fleet "All of us."

* * *

This was a longer chapter before, but I don't want to be to long. So, I moved some things to the next chapter. A plus to this move is that the next chapter will be out soon and it will have some heavy doses of awesome. Look forward to it, and be sure to give me any reviews. I love any reviews I get, even if they are about how you hate my story. See you next chapter.


	10. A Warmer Welcome

Terra Rium...A Warmer Welcome

The Storm Hawks had been moving behind Gubbio's carrier for at least twenty minutes now, and everybody's nerves were a little on edge. Stork was constantly checking the pressure gauges and atmospheric read-outs. Finn was keeping himself busy by polishing ever last tiny bit on his crossbow as he sat on the couch. Junko was looking over everybody's skyrides in the hanger, double checking to see if they were still in proper working order. Aerrow hadn't stopped staring out the windshield, and Piper was trying her best to make a map from the different course corrections they had been making while following Gubbio.

A beep from from in coming transmission served to brake the tense silence of The Condor's bridge. Piper moved to answer the call. "Hello?" She asked into the microphone, already having a good idea who was on the other end.

"We're about to clear the cloud sea." Harley's voice came over the radio. "We have a dock made just for you, it will be lit up by flares that you should be able to see once you clear the clouds." There was a pause as Piper heard the sounds of a microphone being passed to someone else.

"Remember what I said before." Gubbio's gruff voice came over the radio now. "Your pilot and little mascot are to remain on your carrier."

"I still don't understand why you have a problem with them." Piper said, her voice carried an annoyed tone. "Stork and Radarr are are a member of our crew, our family."

"You have to trust me when I say that is really for the best." Gubbio said, his voice sounded tired. "We're coming through now, you should be clear in a moment. We'll see you on the ground." There was a sharp click as the transmission went silent.

Piper moved away from the communications console, making her way toward the windshield to get a good view of the oncoming terra. The shadow of Gubbio's freighter disappeared from in front of them and the clouds began to thin. As they flew forward, the clouds almost seemed to pull back like the curtain on a stage.

They could see the terra below them. It wasn't one of the largest terras they had ever seen, but it was far from small. Every inch of it looked like it was covered in greenery, resembling a jungle. In the distance they could see flares signaling them down, directing them towards a makeshift dock that seemed to hang off the terra, scraping into the cloud cover. The clouds themselves made for the most interesting sight. They seemed to move around the terra, almost as if avoiding it. They swirled around the terra to make an ever shifting dome of clouds, completely covering it.

"I wonder why the clouds move like that?" Aerrow asked as he gazed out the windshield.

"It must have something to do with the natural energies in the clouds." Piper said as she took in the environment. "Something down there must have a kind repulsing effect on the clouds. It's actually kinda beautiful though, the way they swirl around."

"Oh yeah, beautiful." Stork said as he gazed down at the terra. "A forest packed with who knows what kind of creatures. Practically a breeding ground for all kinds of viruses and bacteria." Stork shook off the thoughts of possible infections as he focused on piloting. "In a way, I'm glad they don't want me on their terra."

"Always looking on the bright side." Piper said with a slight grin as she shifted her gaze to the fidgeting pilot. She gently put her hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner.

Stork was immediately aware of Piper's hand on his shoulder, trying his best not to react. He felt as though his insides were trying to wiggle out of him, and his heart began to race. Thankfully, before his face turned a darker shade of green, she pulled her hand back and went back to looking down at the terra.

"I can see the town." She said quickly, pointing down at a small gathering of houses not far from the dock. "Not exactly very welcoming looking."

As The Condor came in closer to dock, Aerrow and Stork could make out that the dwellings were a bit primitive looking. They had most likely been built using the local trees and other materials, giving them a strong rustic look. What stood out the most were a series of gun towers that surrounded the settlement. These were made of metal with powerful anti-aircraft guns mounted on each one.

"Looks like they spent more effort on building those defense towers than the actual town." Aerrow said as Stork pulled into he dock. "Of course, looking at the guy who leads them I can't say that's really a surprise."

The Condor jolted slightly as it came to rest by the dock, a pair of strong looking grappling arms extended out and anchored The Condor in place.

"Well, let's go meet the locals." Aerrow said with a slight feeling of dread building in his gut. _I just hope the locals don't mind meeting us._ He thought to himself as he and Piper made their way through the ship and out onto the docking port. Junko and Finn were quick to follow. The team moved quickly onto the recently built dock, looking around and not actually seeing anyone.

"Hello?" Aerrow asked with a raised voice as he stepped forward onto the ground. He took a few more cautious steps forward looking out into the distance at the houses just beyond a small bit of brush. The leaves began to move on a bush just in front of where the team was standing and Serrow found himself unsure of exactly how he should react. _I don't want to draw my weapons on someone that I'm here to protect._ He kept himself calm as he continued to watch the shaking bush.

Suddenly, a leg shot out from the bush followed quickly by a short bald man tumbling out after it. Aerrow rushed over to help the man to his feet. He was wearing a pair of tan shorts with a simple white button-up shirt, a well worn pair of hiking boots on his feet. He used a cane to steady himself as he proceeded to smack some dirt off his clothes, after he finishing he looked up at Aerrow with a warm smile and bright green eyes. He extended his hand to Aerrow. "Pleasure to meet you, my name is Francis."

Aerrow took the man's hand and nearly had his shoulder wrenched from it's socket by the force the man was putting behind the hand shake. Aerrow managed to free his hand as he smiled at Francis, quickly introducing himself and his present teammates. "We have two more on the ship, but Gubbio said it would be best that they didn't come on to the terra."

"Yes, Gubbio mentioned them yesterday after he got back from meeting you." Francis said, his smile changed to a slight frown. "It's true, unfortunately. Your pilot would be nothing more than a target for this worried lot. And you furried friend...well, that's a whole other matter that's hard to explain."

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked, his curiosity piqued.

"It's not really my place to say at this point." Francis said, his voice sounded a little tired. "It's Gubbio's decision on whether or not to trust you."

Piper moved up to the man, looking around to see if anyone else was going to pop up. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, well you see, they're a bit shy around new people." Francis said cheerfully as he began to move back toward the town, motioning the Storm Hawks to follow. "Can't really blame them. They've been living an isolated life for a while now." He continued to move into the the small settlement. "The last new person to set foot here was Stryker, and he wasn't exactly the most pleasant fellow." Francis said as he moved toward what seemed to be the center of the town, sitting down on a circular bench that was set around a large stone.

"We know what you mean." Aerrow said as he moved up next to where Francis had stopped. He looked around at the houses, catching small glimpses of eyes that were peering at him from behind curtains. "So why are you so friendly when everyone else is hiding?"

"I'm a bit different from everyone else here." Francis said, his grin faltered for a moment before he continued. "I've been around since this settlement began almost twenty years ago, before then I traveled all around the Atmos. I became used to dealing with various types of people."

Aerrow looked around again, the feeling of so many sets of eyes staring at him was causing him to feel a little uncomfortable. "What's taking Gubbio so long?" He asked to no one in particular as he continued to look around.

"He'll be along in a moment." Francis said as he looked up at Aerrow. "There's something that they have to do as soon as they come back to the terra."

"What?" Finn spoke up now, he was feeling a little impatient. "Write in their journals or something?"

Francis looked over at Finn, his casual grin changed to a serious look. "Their doing a small ceremony." He said with a slightly sad tone to his voice. "They're paying their respects to the original squadron that guarded and died for this terra."

Finn stayed quiet as he looked at Francis, unsure of what to say.

"Original squadron?" Aerrow was beginning to feel confused. "The way Gubbio acts, I just figured he always protected the terra."

"In a way, he has." Francis said, his voice started to sound distant as he thought back to older days. "But there was another team that protected this terra back when we first came here. They stayed on to protect the terra as it's official squadron. They were a brave group, but they were caught unprepared on that fateful day. When they fell, Gubbio took up the responsibility and wouldn't let another team on the terra."

"What about Stryker?" Piper asked, moving closer to to haer the man better.

"Stryker was a middleman between us and the Sky Council." Francis explained, shifting his weight on the bench to feel more comfortable. "He over saw the mining operation and transport of crystals. In exchange for our mining and providing the crystals, we're allowed to continue our existence as a settlement."

"I'm not sure what you mean by that?" Aerrow said, something in the back of his mind was nagging him but he couldn't put his finger on it. "You sound like this place isn't a real colony."

Francis smiled, giving Aerrow a playful look. "I guess you could say that. We are real just not officially recognized by the Sky Council. Here's something I'm sure you haven't noticed. What's the name of Gubbio's squadron?"

Aerrow looked around at his friends, searching his memory to try and remember. Everyone gave Aerrow a shrug or a shake of the head, indicating that they didn't know.

"They don't have one." Francis said with a slight laugh. "Gubbio never saw much point in a name for a team that would never be registered as a real squadron. He isn't an actual sky knight either. They gave him the title when he refused to let another squadron assigned to the terra. They didn't like the idea of dealing with the leader of a terra who wasn't at least a sky knight."

"So if Gubbio isn't a sky knight..." Aerrow began but was silenced by Francis raising his hand.

"Gubbio is a better sky knight than most I have met in my different travels." Francis said, giving Aerrow a dtermined look. "How he got the title title isn't as important as what he does with it."

Aerrow was about to ask more, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a figure rushing across the open area. "Grandpa." The familiar boy they knew as Rick was running towards the seated Storm Hawks took a moment to stare again at the old man and then shift they're gaze back to Rick.

_I guess we know here Rick got his friendly attitude from._ Aerrow thought to himself as he watched the Rick approach.

Francis got to his feet, leaning onto his cane for support. "Rick, I wondering when you would coming running." Francis said to the boy as he looked at him with a smiling face. "Where is your father?"

"He's coming, he's always so slow coming back from the there." Rick said as he turned his attention to Aerrow and company. "What do you think of the place so far?"

"It's..." Aerrow paused as he looked around at the buildings. "...quiet."

Rick rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the surrounding buildings. "Come on you scaredy-cats! There here to protect us! They're the Storm Hawks!"

"Stop shouting so much!" Gubbio appeared from the brush just beyond the edge of the town, the rest of his squadron were just behind him. Gubbio made his way over to Aerrow, taking long strides at a casual pace to close the gap. "Welcome to Terra Rium." He said as he approached Aerrow. He noticed Francis was standing next to Aerrow, giving a small nod to the old an. "I see you met my father-in-law."

"Was just telling them a little of our history." Francis said as he smiled at Gubbio.

"Not too much I hope." Gubbio said as he gave Francis a hard look.

"No, that still remains your decision." Francis said with a small sigh. "But I wish you were a bit more trusting, like you used to be. She always liked that about you."

Gubbio didn't say anything to Francis, only shifted his gaze from Francis to the Storm Hawks. "Feel free to look around, except for you Aerrow." Gubbio said as he began to step away from the group, back toward the direction he came from. "We have business to attend to."

Aerrow turned to look at his friends. "Look around and get a feel for this place." He said as he began taking steps to follow Gubbio. "Keep an eye out for anything interesting." He quickly picked up his pace and followed Gubbio through the bush.

The remainder of the team found themselves standing opposite of Brahm, Harley and Quin. Finn was quick to break the ice. "So, where does a guy go to get a hamburger here?." He said in a playful tone to Harley.

"Back the way you came." Harley said with a slightly annoyed tone. "There aren't any wild animals on Terra Rium, so most of us are vegetarians."

"Your kidding me, right?" Finn asked with a nervous smile.

"Not really." Francis spoke up. "It's a lifestyle you get used to after so many years."

"It's really not so bad." Rick said with a smile.

Quin stared daggers at Finn. "But if your hungry for a little protein, I can point the way to the closest thing to meat we got around here."

"Sounds tasty." Junko spoke up as he licked his lips in anticipation.

Rick and Francis shared a chuckle that left the others feeling they were being left out of a joke.

"Follow me." Quin said, his voice still carried an annoyed tone. "I'll take you to Vix's place." He said as he turned to start making his way towards on of the larger buildings towards the end of the street. "I guarantee you've never had food like this before." He finished with a slight laugh.

Finn looked at Piper with a feeling of dread clear on his face. "Some how that makes me more nervous than facing Cyclonis."

Piper rolled her eyes and moved to follow Quin, curious to find out what was on the menu.

**_........_**

Aerrow moved to catch up with Gubbio who was already moving at a fast pace through the jungle path.

"So what exactly did he tell you?" Gubbio asked once Aerow had caught up.

"He mentioned that there was a squadron before yours and that your squadron and terra aren't officially recognized by the Sky Council." Aerrow said simply as he moved in time with Gubbio. "I just don't understand why it's like that."

"There's not much to it." Gubbio said simply as he looked at Aerrow with a side glance. "They won't officially sanction us, and I just don't care."

"But what about the squadron before?" Aerrow asked, eager to know the truth brhind Gubbio's past. "What happened to them?"

"Repton." Gubbio said with a tone that told Aerrow he wasn't going to say anything more than that.

Aerrow looked around and realized they were heading for where Gubbio's freighter was docked. "Why are we going back to your ship?"

"We both have questions." Gubbio said simply. "I figured it would be simpler to have you on hand when I get my answers." A grin spread across his face that left a cold feeling running up Aerrow's spine.

It was time to interrogate Repton.

* * *

Longer chapter than I realized it would be. And I have a feeling there are plenty of questions going through your heads about now. Well the answers are coming. I'm just currious if any of you have a clue as to what's coming. (insert evil laugh here.) Anyway, next chapter might take a bit longer to get out. Some things have popped up on my end that will be taking up a bit of my time, so it might be a couple of days. Gives you all plenty of time to read and review. See you next time.


	11. Something to Chew On

Terra Rium...Something to Chew On

Finn found himself in an increasingly uncomfortable situation.

He was currently sitting at one of the back tables of the restaurant Quin had referred to as "Vix's." It was a simple enough set up for the small eatery. Along the far wall were four booth areas, and on the opposite wall was a bar. In between were ten roughly organized tables. The walls and support beams were made of wood, most likely cut from the surrounding forest. The roof was a collection of different metal plates from various sources that had been fit together in the best way possible to prevent leaks when it rained. Finn could almost imagine the noise that the metal roof must have made when it rained with all that water smacking against it.

Piper and Junko were currently sitting at the small table with him. Next to them, at a larger table that had been scooted over to allow conversation, were seated Francis, Rick, Quinn and Harley. Brahm had already left, though he didn't say where he was going, as expected.

In front of Finn, on the table, was the source of his current troubles. Piled high in an odd looking bowl was a large mound of green mush with hard looking blue chunks strewn about the top like sprinkles on a sundae.

"What was this called again?" He asked as he poked the mound for the tenth time since it had been placed in front of him.

"King's Surprise." Quin said with a vicious grin. Quin was currently enjoying a vegetable stew as he stared at Finn. It was a simple stew with a creamy broth, but to Finn it looked like heaven compared to the meal in front of him. The others all had the same dish, except Finn and Junko who had the current source of Finn's worries.

"What's the surprise?" Finn asked, already fearing what the answer would be.

Junko was currently scooping out the last bit of mush from his bowl. "I think it's the beetle shell." He said as he stuffed the last bit into his mouth. He the picked up the bowl that the mush had been sitting in and, after giving a quick inspection, took a bite from it. "Yep, definitely beetle."

It was then the Finn realized that it wasn't a bowl in front of him, but was actually the hollowed out shell of an over sized beetle.

"I think I'll pass." Finn said as he pushed the untouched food away from him and across to Junko who happily picked it and began eating it.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted some protein. King Beetles are the best source of protein we have around here." Quin said as he scooped up another bite of his vegetable stew.

"I thought King Beetles never got bigger than a fist." Piper said as she looked away from Junko finishing off Finn's lunch.

"You'd be surprised how things are different here at Terrarium." Francis said with a grin.

"Terrarium?" Piper asked, raising her eyebrow. "You mean Terra Rium, right?"

"Only to those nerds at The Sky Council." Rick said with a quick laugh.

Francis chuckled a bit before addressing Piper. "Sorry, my own little joke." He said with his usual grin. "The official name is Terra Rium, yes. But, that is only because The Sky Council lacks any originality when it comes to names. Every thing is Terra this and Terra that. I try a little originality and they misread it as another Terra. Though I guess the spelling works out either way. I figured it was as good a name as any. We are on a small area with a veritable dome above us that keeps us separated from the outside world and have life growing here that is quite a bit different than any other terra you have seen."

"So what makes the place so special?" Finn asked as he grabbed a roll from the bread basket in the middle of the table, eager to have something in his stomach that looked edible.

"Well it wasn't really that special until about twenty years ago." Francis said as his mind seemed to drift back into old memories. "It was originally a barren terra, barely any life beyond insects and a few sparse plants." A gleam seamed to form in Francis' eye as he continued. "Then one night, something happened. The clouds suddenly formed around the terra and started producing massive amounts of energy that prevented any kind of scan we had available. The clouds were so thick that it prevented anyone from safely navigating their way through."

"So how did you guys make it?" Finn asked.

"We almost didn't." Francis said with his usual grin. "Damn near crashed into something every ten minutes. Thankfully, the squadron assigned to protect us had good reflexes and we made it through with only a few scrapes. Of course it was lucky when even found the terra at all. We had tried multiple times to make it through the clouds only to end up on the far side or somewhere else entirely outside of the dense clouds. The energies in these clouds are just hell on navigational instruments, as I'm sure you know by now. And the strong winds are constantly knocking you off course. When we found the terra, we halfway to crashing into it. But we managed to pull up in time, the calm within the dome helped greatly. When we saw all the lush greenery that was spread across this once barren terra, we knew something miraculous had happened. We didn't even begin to understand just how things were changed on this terra until a few days later, when the real miracle occurred."

"What miracle? What exactly happened?" Piper asked as she leaned closer to Francis, curiosity piqued.

"Everything changed!" Francis said with a bright smile, his arms extending out in an excited gesture.

"Hey!" Quin yelled, banging his fist on the table. "How about we not go telling all our secrets without Gubbio's permission?"

"Calm down bro." Harley said, reaching a hand over and placing it on her brother's arm. "He knows better."

Francis let his arms slump back to his sides. His smile, while not as wide as before, didn't fade. "Once burned, twice shy." He said simply as he gave Piper a quick wink. "Don't worry. I have a feeling that, in time, all the wonder of this terra will be yours to see." And with that, Francis stood up from the table and rebalanced himself with his cane. "Come along Rick, we have to see to your studies."

"Awww, do I have to go?" Rick asked trying to sound as pitiful as possible. "I barely got to spend any time with the guys."

"Don't worry. You'll have plenty of chances later." He assured Rick in his kind tone. "But, for now, we have much to do."

"Fine." Rick said in a huff as he scooted his chair from the table and followed Francis outside.

Harley and Quin stood up next and made their way to the door. Harley paused and looked back at the the group. "Once your done here, feel free to head over to our carrier. I'm sure they must have some info by now." She gave a quick wave then followed Quin out the the door.

"Well, that was fun." Finn said sarcastically, taking a small bite from his roll then swallowing it. "I hope Aerrow had a better time than we did. I'm curious to hear what he got out of Repton."

"I'm more interested in what happened here twenty years ago." Piper said as she leaned back in her chair. "He said it was a barren and unwanted terra. Now just look at it. Heavy amounts of crystal deposits and an overflowing jungle teeming with life." Piper's eyes gleamed as she thought of the possibilities. "What could do that?"

"Miracles?" Junko asked as he sat back, just finishing Finn's beetle.

"That would be one hell of a miracle that I'd like to see." Finn said, his thoughts wandering for a moment. Then he stood up and motioned for the others to join him. "C'mon, let's go check on Aerrow, I don't have an appetite anymore."

The others got up and followed Finn out the door.

* * *

Time to check on Aerrow. ;)


End file.
